Hills Have Eyes
by Warrior princess922
Summary: A group of friends decides to go on a vacation to San Diego. They take a road, which leads through the hills. Little do they know, that they are heading straight to hell…My own version of the horror movie, using characters from Lost. Sana,PB&J,Jate,Chana,
1. A Trip to San Diego

**Title:** "Hills Have Eyes"

**Summary: **A group of friends decides to go on a vacation to San Diego. They take a road, which leads through the hills. Little do they know, that they are heading straight to hell… My own version of the horror movie, using characters from Lost. Sana, Chaire, Jate, Chana, Cana, ConMama. AU.

**Rating:** M

**Warnings:** Language, characters dead, violence

'**Ships:** Sana, Chaire, Jate, Chana, Cana, ConMama, Skate, Kana, Jaire, Chawyer, Jana, Kaire, Jawyer, Jarlie.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Lost or Hills Have Eyes.

**Beta:** Wickedgal08

**Important information about the fiction:**

Ana Lucia **is** a cop.

Jack **is** a doctor.

Kate **is not **a fugitive.

Sawyer **is not** a con.

Claire **and **Charlie are Aaron's parents.

Aaron is **one year old.**

Vincent is **Ana's** dog.

Jack is **Claire's brother.**

**A/N:** So I got this idea, out of nowhere, while I was watching the trailer for the movie. Mostly seeing Emily de Ravin in it put the idea into my head. And I thought it would be great to write a horror fanfic, based on the movie. I'll change the events a little, I'm going to soften them. So the story is not for psycho maniacs, that expect to see a detailed description of the rape scene, that was in the movie. I'm planning on skipping that part, actually. The fic is not going to be, as dramatic and as bloody, as the film is. I'm not saying there will be no blood or drama, but like I said before, I'm going to soften the events from the movie and change them a little bit.

Oh and I'm gonna say right away, that some of the characters will end up dead. And when it happens, do not attack me about it. I gave you a warning, like twice already. If you don't feel strong enough to read about the death of you favorite character(s) from Lost, then it's simple: DON"T READ!

So… consider yourselves warned.

**Hope you enjoy!**

**Massive hugs for my Beta, Wickedgal08! I wouldn't have even bothered to update the fic without her help! Thank U so much!!!**

**

* * *

Chapter 1: "A Trip to San Diego."**

New Mexico Desert

It was late at night. The wind wailed ominously through every nook and cranny of an old house at the gas station called 'Gas Heaven'.

Some whispers and footsteps could be heard from the inside and woke up an old man, who was sleeping in his bed. He groaned with fury and got up. He was fully clothed.

The man grabbed a rifle from a counter and exited his bedroom. He walked out of the house, looking around.

"Ruby?! Is that you?!" he called out "Ruby?!"

The man cursed under his breath and walked away from the station, keep calling out.

He passed an old, destroyed fence by and following the track he made his way to a downward slope, leading to a dark, dismal mine.

"If that's you, Jupiter…I got some buckshot for you!" he yelled into the darkness. And with that he turned and stormed off, back to the gas station.

When he was close to the house, he spotted a black bag near the door.

"I told you, it's over!" the man shouted, turning around "I'm out, ya hear me?! You're on your own now!" he yelled and then a resignation appeared on his face, as he added: "I-…I'm sorry, I can't do this anymore… " And he entered his house, taking the bag, unaware that someone had been watching him.

* * *

"Charlie, damn it, hurry your ass up!"

"All right, all right, I'm comin', okay?!" a young Briton with blonde, short hair and blue eyes yelled out from his room. He put his guitar to a black, big case and then left the house, approaching a group of people, standing next to a big car with a trailer.

"Well, howdy, Chuckie!" a blonde-haired Southerner growled, looking annoyed.

"Bloody hell, what's the big deal, Sawyer?" Charlie snapped, opening a boot of a car.

"What do you need the guitar for?"

He turned to look at the brunette woman, who had asked him the question. She had long, brown and curly hair, green eyes and freckles covering her nose and cheeks.

"Hello? We're going on a vacation. _I'm_ going on a vacation with a bunch of bores. I'm gonna have to kill the time somehow, right?." He explained, slamming the boot of a car.

"Hope you're not referring to me." A girl with blonde, long hair and blue eyes came over and smiled at him.

"No, no, love!" Charlie assured her, smirking and kissing her cheek.

"Good." She stated and rolled her eyes "It's not like you _have to_ go anyway…"

"Claire!" a man with brown, short hair called, approaching the crowd with a one year old baby boy in his arms "Could you rescue your brother from your child?"

"Yeah, sorry, Jack." She apologized and took the boy from him "Hey, sweetie."

"Okay, so we're all ready?" Jack asked "We can go?"

"Yeah, but we'll have to stop somewhere." Claire announced, surprising all her friends.

"Why?" Charlie questioned with a frown.

"Coz we need to pick up Ana."

Kate's eyes widened and she looked at Jack, as if waiting for him to protest. Charlie rose his eyebrows and murmured something under his breath and Sawyer paled.

"She… she's coming with us?" the Southerner asked quietly, staring at Claire with a mixture of confusion and shock in his eyes.

"Yeah. I called her yesterday and invited her. It took me a while to convince her, but finally she agreed…" Claire answered, not aware of everybody's reaction.

"Why'd you do that?" Jack asked, glancing at Sawyer "You know, that--"

"Hey, she's my friend, okay? And I don't care, what you think about it, all right? Besides, goddammit, it's been a long time, people! Don't you think it's time to let it go?"

"But… but Claire…"

"Besides, if anyone has a right to be mad here…" Claire threw in, interrupting Kate "… it's Ana…. And not any of you, guys.." She added, as if challenging them. Nobody tried to protest anymore, so Claire turned on her heels and came over to the car with Aaron. After a minute everybody else got in and Jack took off, driving away from the house.

* * *

A young Latina with dark, curly hair and almost black eyes opened the door and faced a smiling blonde girl.

"Hey, hun. You ready?" Claire asked happily, but her smile faded a little, once she saw her friend's face.

"I'm not sure…" Ana Lucia murmured and walked away to her room. Claire sighed heavily and entered the apartment, closing the door behind her. She followed Ana and leaned against the door frame, watching the Latina's back, that was turned on her.

"What's wrong? Did you change your mind?"

"Claire, I don't think it's a good idea, y'know… I shouldn't have agreed." Ana said, zipping up her backpack and turning around to face the blonde. "I don't think they'll enjoy my company and--."

"Don't be stupid, Ana." Claire threw in, sending her a sharp look "They have no right to be angry at you and you know it!"

Ana didn't respond. She just sat down on her bed and stared at her packed bags. Claire's eyes softened and she came over to her and sat beside her.

"Tell me the real reason, why you don't wanna come."

The Latina remained silent.

"Is it because of Kate?"

Ana grimaced and shook her head.

"No… I wouldn't waste a chance to go on a vacation, because of…_her_."

"So it's because of Sawyer, right?"

She closed her eyes with a heavy sigh and after a while opened them again, nodding with enthusiasm.

"You know what? You're right!" Ana said firmly and grinned, getting up. "I ain't gonna let him destroy the trip! After all… I haven't seen you guys for a long time and it'll be awesome to spend some time with y'all."

And with that she stormed off, leaving behind a surprised Claire.

"Vincent!" she heard Ana calling "Come on here!"

The blonde exited the bedroom and was greeted by a big Labrador, jumping up and trying to lick her face.

"Good boy!" Claire gasped, stroking his ears and glancing at Ana.

"You gonna help me with the bags?"

* * *

"What's taking them so long?" Charlie asked, yawning and stretching his arms above his head, accidentally hitting Sawyer.

"Watch it, Chuck." He snapped.

"Maybe she's not ready yet…" Jack said with his head rested on a wheel. Next to him, Kate was chewing her gum lazily with her arms crossed over her chest. She seemed to be really pissed off. Sawyer, on the other hand, looked nervous.

"Here they are." Charlie exclaimed suddenly and Sawyer jumped up a little, turning around to see for himself. Ana and Claire were indeed walking towards the car with bags and Vincent, running behind them. He swallowed hard, as he looked at her for the first time since their last argument four months ago. He felt, as if something was squeezing his throat, not letting him breathe normally.

"Hi, Ana." Jack greeted her with a smile, getting out of the car. "How are you?"

"Hey….Uh…okay, thanks." She said softly, hugging him.

"Here. Let me help you with those." He offered, pointing at her bags.

"Thanks."

Once her stuff were all in the boot, Ana took her place in the car right next to Charlie, who was now between her and Sawyer. Vincent laid down under her feet.

"Hiya, Luce!" The Briton exclaimed with a big grin on his face, pulling her into a hug.

"Nice to see you too, Rock star." Ana gasped, patting his back and resting her chin on his shoulder. Her eyes locked with Sawyer's and he sent her an unsure, small smile and she managed to respond with her own forced one. Kate didn't even say hi to her. Not that it bothered her.

Finally Charlie pulled back, but he wasn't about to leave her alone.

"Man, you've changed." He remarked, smirking "I didn't think it was possible for you to be hotter, than you already were--"

"Hey!"

The pair turned to look at Claire, who was sitting before them and glaring at Charlie.

"Was just kiddin', gorgeous." He tried to explain, but she was having none of it and moved forward a little to smack his shoulder. He yelped in pain, which made her glare harder.

"Ouch?" he whispered, staring at her with surprise in his eyes. Ana pressed the back of her hand to her mouth to muffle her laugh. Claire smirked at her and turned around.

Charlie glanced over at Ana and she shrugged, amused.

"You were asking for it."

* * *

"Jack, are you sure you know, where you're driving us to?" Kate asked with a doubt in her voice.

"Yes, I'm sure." he tried to reassure her and everybody else, as well "I just took the longer road. Want to see the desert."

"What's so interesting there?" Charlie complained "We could be faster in San Diego if you took the other road."

"Hey, we're on vacation, right?" Jack argued "Don't I have a right to see something more, than just what we planned?"

"No." Sawyer and Charlie said at the same moment.

"Well, it's your problem. _I'm_ the driver here." The doctor said in a tone, that was obviously supposed to finish the conversation.

After two hours everybody was really sick and tired of the ride. Jack ignored all their laments, though, not wanting to stop. Kate fell asleep in the front seat with her head on Jack's shoulder. Claire was busy with putting Aaron to sleep, while Charlie was trying to help her, by singing to him. He had to bend forward to be closer to the baby and automatically the only person, that was separating Ana from Sawyer was gone. He risked a glance at her and was even about to start a conversation, but as soon as she caught his stare she turned her head, pretending to watch the houses they were passing by. His eyes saddened and he let out a heavy breath, resting his forehead against a window.

Few more hours passed, as Jack finally stopped the car on a gas station. It was a weird place. Just from one look they could tell, that whoever was here didn't have visitors often.

"You all wait here." Jack said and got out of the car..

"It's nasty out here." Charlie commented and then stared at Claire "Tell me again, why we couldn't fly like _normal _people?"

"Coz they wouldn't let my brother drive the plane." She answered him sarcastically.

"Oh, right… Kay, I'm going to stretch my legs!" he announced and motioned for Ana to let him get out. She glanced at Sawyer quickly and shook her head.

"I'm gettin' out too." Ana told him and got out of the car with Charlie following her. Claire glanced over at Sawyer, who was obviously disappointed and sent him a sympathetic look.

"Hello?!" Jack called out "Where's everybody?"

After a minute a man exited the house. He was dirty and smelled really bad. He wore an old hat and he had a cigarette in his filthy mouth. Ana furrowed her eyebrows at the sight and Charlie clenched his jaw to stop himself from laughing.

"Oh, hey." Jack greeted him, trying to act normal.

"Hello! It's hot out here, ain't it?"

"Yeah…Fill her up and check the fluids, please." The doc instructed him.

"Oh, yeah. Right away, sir." The man said, smiling, making them notice his lack of teeth. He walked over to the car without another word. Ana grimaced a little.

"Hey, Louie! Come over here!" Charlie called her and she glared at him for the nickname.

"What up?" she asked, as soon as she was close enough to see, what he was gazing at..

"Look at that." He said, pointing at small pig, that was tied up to a fence. "Little baby piggy! Little baby piggy!" Charlie sang and knelt down next to it, leaning the side of his face against the pig's snout, as if posing for a picture.

"Aww…You two make a perfect pair!" Ana teased, smirking down at him.

"Thanks, you're sweet, Lou." He responded, grinning. "He's a good little piggy! Ain't you? Yes, you are!"

Ana raised her eyebrows and couldn't help, but laugh out loud.

"Don't you know it's illegal to smoke around a gas pump?" Kate asked Sawyer, as they stood next to the car.

"Yeah…" he drawled, blowing out smoke from his mouth "…and?"

The brunette shook her head with a smirk and then her eyes narrowed, as they found Ana. Unfortunately, Sawyer noticed her glare.

"Don't you dare say something nasty to her, Freckles."

"What?" she snapped, not really listening to him.

"I'm talkin' about Chica over there. You stay away from her, Kate. We've both done enough to her already."

"Not more, than she's done to us." She argued, turning to glare at him instead.

"Don't start." He warned her calmly, throwing his cigarette away.

"Fine." She growled, walking away to Jack. Sawyer watched her go and rolled his eyes, when she wrapped her arms around the doctor, still glancing at Ana now and again. He looked at the Latina himself and felt weird, as if his stomach has just dropped a little.

"Hey!" Ana snapped at Charlie "What the hell are you doing?!"

He had his back turned to her and was busy with 'watering' grass in front of him.

"Don't pee there!" she snapped again, but he just laughed.

"What the hell do you care? Just turn around for a second!"

"Uh… hello? Don't you see that?" Ana asked, pointing at a gross and slippery toilet, that wasn't far away from them. "Geez."

"What's your problem?" Charlie questioned with a cheeky grin on his face, as he turned around to face her.

"You're disgusting, man." Ana stated, pushing him as far away from her as she could, making him chuckle.

"He's so uncomfortable in this heat." Claire complained, while sitting in the car and changing Aaron's diapers.

"I told you to use cloth diapers." Jack reminded her, sticking his head through a window.

"Yeah, well, _my _doctor said these were fine." The blonde insisted stubbornly and pushed his head back out of the car. He stood up and just then the man approached him.

"Don't see too many travelers around here." He drawled in a husky voice "Where y'all headed?"

"San Diego." Kate answered him briefly.

"California?"

"Yeah."

"Sure didn't take the fastest road."

"Oh, no." she laughed "We absolutely had to see the desert. Didn't we, Jack?"

"Absolutely." He confirmed, wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Just then Ana and Charlie came over.

"There ain't nothin' to see in the desert." The man told them and Jack frowned.

"You heard that, mate?" Charlie teased, standing next to him.

"How far are we from I-88?" Jack asked, ignoring him and taking out a map from a car.

"You're at least five or six hours."

"Why couldn't we have gone through Santa Fe?" Ana asked, not expecting any answer, but expecting a glare from Kate. She didn't bother to return it, though.

"This is the only southbound road going to I-88. From there..." The man said and pointed at the map "…you can take the 40 to California, but it's a long, old drive."

"Lovely." Charlie commented and was ignored once again.

"That doesn't bother me a bit. I like to drive at night." Jack announced, smiling.

"Good for you, sir…Everything's fine. Oil's okay."

"Great. So what do I owe you?"

"Uh, $46 even."

"Okay. Keep the change."

"Thanks, sir."

"Oh hey, Jack, here!" Sawyer called, approaching them and taking out a wallet out of the back pocket of his jeans "Let me take care of that."

Jack raised his eyebrows at this. He knew very well, why the Southerner was acting this way. The answer was simple and began with 'a' and ended with … 'a'. That's right. _Ana._

"I can still afford the gas, Sawyer. Thanks a lot."

"That's not what I meant." The blonde man snapped back at him with a stern glare.

"Yeah, right…"

"Vincent!" Ana yelled suddenly and they all turned to see the Labrador running away from the car. Claire stood next to the opened door with Aaron in her arms.

"Sorry." She apologized quietly.

"Vincent, come back here!" Ana shouted and took off after him towards the house.

She ran through the door and stopped. She was in a shop.

"Vincent! Come on here, boy!"

She slowly started walking, between counters.

"Come on, boy!"

Suddenly she heard some sounds of crushing from a small room on her left.

"Is anyone there?"

Nobody replied her. After a few seconds there was a barking

"Vincent!"

Ana waited just a short while, before entering the room.

It was a terrible mess in there. Ana took a look around it, frowning. Her eyes found a table in front of her. A lot of weird things were on it. She half-opened the fastening on a black bag. Vincent was standing on his hind legs with his forefeet rested on a window-sill, still barking.

Ana shook her head and came over to him.

"Vincent, what are you doin'?" she growled, grabbing his leash and quickly turning around.

"Can I help you, miss?"

Ana jumped up a little at the guy's sudden appearance.

"Oh, I'm sorry…" she gasped out "It's just… my dog." She tried to explain and he was keep staring at her, like some freaking predator. "He just… he got out…He won't stay put." She finished, smiling a little to calm down.

"Ana, we're leaving!" she heard Jack calling out for her.

"Yeah, come on, boy, let's go." She mumbled and quickly left the room, feeling his eyes on herself. She made her way to the car and looked over her shoulder. That guy scared the shit out of her.

"You all right?" Sawyer asked her, as soon as he noticed her weird behavior. She turned to look at him and she was so shaken, that for one, great second she forgot, that something has ever happened between them. She was ready to smile at him and-- The brutal reality quickly woke her up from her daze.

"Yeah, don't bother…" She murmured bitterly and pushed past him. Sawyer was still for a few seconds and let out a heavy breath and joined the others in the car.

When Jack was about to start the engine, the filthy man appeared once again, making Ana grimace.

"Yeah?" Jack asked, opening the window, that the guy stood next to.

"You know, uh… it's not on the map, but if you..." he started slowly, as if fighting with himself, whether to tell them that or not "…take a left at the dirt road, couple miles from here..." he continued, pointing at the map in Jack's hands.

"Uh-huh…"

"…it'll lead you through the hills. Probably save you a couple of hours."

"I guess we can't miss it." Jack said with a smile.

"Uh, there's an old fence right in front." The man added.

"Well, thank you."

"Old fence, dirt road, two miles."

"Yeah, I got it. Thank you very much."

They guy nodded abruptly. Ana narrowed her eyes at him, but nobody else seemed to be bothered by his weird behavior. Jack began to close the window and the man smiled.

"You have a safe trip."

**A/N:** Let me know if anybody's interested.


	2. A really good plan

**Thank U for your reviews!!! I'm glad U like the story so far!**

**

* * *

Chapter 2: "A really good plan."**

"You all everybody! You all everybody!"

"Would you shut up please?!" Sawyer yelled out after at least ten minutes of the non-stop singing.

"You all everybody!" Charlie sang even louder, making Ana smirk.

"You all everybody!" Jack suddenly joined him and Sawyer glared at him in disbelief.

"Guys!"

"You all everybody!" Kate sang along with them and Sawyer groaned, cursing under his breath. Claire glanced back at Ana, who shook her head with a grin.

"That's it! I'm goin' to the trailer!" the Southerner announced, annoyed "Stop the car, doctor Phil."

Jack laughed, but listened anyway.

"All right, wait!" Charlie threw in, when Sawyer was about to get out. "_I'm_ goin'. It's more comfortable there. You comin'?" he asked Ana, who nodded quickly and they both got out of the car. Sawyer watched them go and then turned to look at the rest.

"Can you believe it?"

It seemed everybody had ignored him, because nobody bothered to respond.

"I'd like a little back-up here, hello?!" Sawyer exclaimed, opening his arms and waiting for somebody to support him. But nobody did. Kate had already headphones in her ears, Claire was busy with putting Aaron to sleep and Jack was staring at a rear-view mirror, waiting for Ana and Charlie to get into the trailer and then he started the engine.

"Great." Sawyer summed up bitterly and leaned back in his seat with an annoyed groan. Vincent jumped up on a seat and tried to lick his face "_Ugh_! Go away!"

"Can you imagine the first people to cross this desert?" Jack questioned suddenly, as he took off again "They didn't know where they were."

"Yeah, I can, because _neither do we_!" Sawyer exclaimed, pushing the dog away. Claire rolled her eyes at his attitude.

"The road_ is_ here." Jack protested "It _exists_. And that _means_ it's got to go somewhere." He continued slowly, as if Sawyer was too stupid to understand if he said that faster.

"Besides, look how beautiful it is!" The doctor added "Look at the light on the rocks! It's gorgeous!"

"This is so fucked up!" Sawyer growled quietly, but loud enough for them to hear it.

"Hey!" Claire snapped "Watch your language in the presence of my baby!"

"Like he can understand what I'm saying anyway!" He argued and Jack shook his head with a brief laugh "This is such _bullshit_!"

"Hey!" Jack snapped this time "Watch your _fucking_ mouth!"

Sawyer chuckled in spite of himself and Claire shook her head, murmuring under her breath.

* * *

"Driving through the New Mexico desert…in the middle of summer..." Charlie began, as he lay down on a bed "…with a broken air conditioner…. Great vacation!"

Ana giggled at this, as she fixed herself a glass of water.

"Y'know, I'm glad you came, because I would have been so fucking bored otherwise."

"Don't let Claire hear you saying that." Ana teased him and he shot up to the sitting position.

"I'm not referring to _her_." He protested abruptly, making her laugh "No, but seriously! Sawyer, for example! Every chance the guy gets, he takes me down a peg! And I can't even snap back at him, coz then Claire would be mad at me! It isn't fair, now is it?"

"Charlie…Just ignore the hick." She sighed, putting the glass down on a counter.

"It's not easy, y'know…"

"He talks, when he _thinks_ he's got something smart to say." Ana announced, rolling her eyes.

"No. He talks, when he thinks he can impress you with whatever he means to say."

"Oh gimme a break." She snorted, grabbing a small stool and standing up on it.

"It's true! Didn't you notice his weird behavior today? The way he's all nervous and shit?"

"Nope." She gasped out, opening a grating to get to the air conditioner.

"You gotta be kiddin' me! This is so obvious! He's trying to… get you back, I think."

"Yeah? Well, I don't care about what he's trying to do." She told him and lifted her arms to check, what's broken.

"You don't? Not even a bit?"

"Not even a bit."

"Seriously?"

Ana glanced at him over her shoulder with her arms still up and rose her eyebrows.

"Does it look like I'm kidding?"

"No." Charlie admitted, smirking "I bet he wouldn't be happy to hear, what you think of him."

"Fuck him." She breathed, turning her head to look back up at the air conditioner.

"But Kate seems to be really pissed off, that you're here."

"Yeah?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well then fuck her too."

He laughed and she continued to check the air conditioner.

"Hey, give up on that, girl!" Charlie exclaimed after another thirty seconds of silence "I tried for an hour and a half, before we took off. The thing's ancient. Wiring's medieval…Needs to be replaced…"

"There." Ana breathed, as she closed the grating. The Briton stared at her with widened eyes. She went down from the stool and ran a hand through her hair, noticing his surprised look.

"It's just the, uh, thermostat…" she stated simply "It's disconnected."

"Oh." He whispered, embarrassed. She opened a fridge and grabbed two beers. Then she came over to the bed and sat down beside Charlie, giving him one bottle.

"Thanks, mate… So, uh… how's life for you?"

"Oh fucking _brilliant_." Ana said sarcastically "My mum won't let me work after the accident."

"Why?"

"I dunno." She shrugged, opening her beer with a hiss "She probably thinks I'm crazy now."

"You know what?" Charlie said and held up his bottle "Fuck your mum!"

"Oh yeah." She laughed with a nod, knocking her beer against his "Cheers."

"Cheers."

* * *

"I think we're somewhere on this blue road."

"Kate, we're not on the blue road or any other road." Sawyer stated, irritated. "The guy said it wasn't on the map, remember?"

Suddenly something creaked and the car jumped up.

"Oh my God!" Claire gasped, reaching for Aaron. In the trailer Ana and Charlie fell backwards on the bed, spilling the beers all over themselves.

Jack grabbed the wheel harder, but soon it turned out he had lost control.

"Jesus, hang on!" He exclaimed, as they were driving straight on rocks "Watch the baby!"

He pressed on the brake vehemently and the hood crashed on the rocks with a resonant rumble.

"Fuck!" Sawyer yelled, as he fell forward and hit hard the back of a seat in before him.

"Is anyone hurt?" Jack asked, turning around, a layer of sweat covering his forehead.

"Yeah, _Jackass!_ Myself and I here!" the Southerner growled, rubbing his sore forehead.

"Is he okay?" Kate questioned Claire with fear in her voice, as she turned around to check on Aaron.

"Yeah, I think he's all right." The blonde answered shakily, picking up the crying boy and hugging him to her chest.

All of them got out of the car, just when Ana and Charlie exited the trailer.

"You guys are fine?!" Jack yelled out and they both nodded. Charlie ran over to Claire.

"You okay, hun?" He asked her with concern and she nodded. "Aaron too?"

"Yeah, he's just a little scared..."

Charlie let out a heavy breath and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her to him.

"What the hell happened?!" Sawyer exclaimed, closing the door of the car, before Vincent managed to get out and glaring at Jack "You forgot how to drive?!"

"Hey, it ain't my fault, okay?!"

"Then whose fault is it?!"

"Shut up, Sawyer."

He turned to look at Ana, but she was already next to Jack, not bothering to return his stare or add anything else. It seemed she was the only person, who could make Sawyer shut his mouth.

"So what happened?" She asked Jack calmly and he sighed heavily, rubbing his forehead with a back of his hand.

"The heat must have caused a blowout…_Dammit_!"

"I knew this wasn't going to be safe for the baby." Charlie commented and Ana turned around to send him a glare.

"What?"

"Why are your clothes wet?" Claire asked suddenly, running her hand over his t-shirt. "And I smell alcohol." She added coldly, glaring up at him. He opened his mouth to say something, but Ana did him a favour by speaking for him.

"Chill out... We had just a few swigs of beer, before it all happened. Now we can just dream about it or lick it off our clothes."

"That sounds like a good idea, actually…" Charlie said with a frown, as if considering it and Claire groaned and pushed him away from her.

"What?" He laughed innocently. Ana gave him a look, that told him to be quiet and then went to the trailer to change her sweatshirt.

* * *

"Did you find a signal?" Kate asked, as she approached Sawyer, who was standing few meters away from the car, holding up his cell phone.

"No, nothin'." He replied with a heavy sigh "Ninety-seven percent nationwide coverage and we find ourselves in that three percent."

She smiled at him and he lowered the mobile, groaning.

"Well, your _doctor_ wanted to see the desert." He said, annoyed "I hope he's enjoying himself."

"Sawyer…"

"Maybe somebody will need a rent-a-doc around here…"

"Hey, c'mon!" Kate spat at him, pushing him a little. "It's not fair and it isn't Jack's fault, either!"

"Yeah? So who decided to take the shortcut? Maybe little _babbler_ over there?"

"Yeah, very funny." She snapped bitterly "You really picked the wrong time to make jokes, y'know?"

"I ain't makin' jokes, Freckles. I'm stating the _obvious_."

"Whatever. I don't think you'd be all that pissed off if _Ana_ wasn't here." She remarked, knowing very well it would hit home. And all she wanted to do was to piss him off even more.

"The fact, that old Jackie boy doesn't know how to drive has nothin' to do with Ana." Sawyer growled through gritted teeth, as he felt his blood boiling. "So leave her out of it, okay?"

"How can I leave her out of it, when she's the cause of your behavior?"

"Touché, Kate… Now go back to the dork and stop pretendin' we're still friends."

"You _tryin'_ to be a jackass or does it come out naturally?" she asked, although it was more likely that it was a rhetorical question. Sawyer could hear the pain in her voice. But he didn't manage to respond, as she was already storming off.

"Son of a bitch…" He swore under his breath, watching her go. Believe it or not, he didn't mean to say that. And moreover, it seemed she was right.

Sawyer held up his phone once again and after a while lowered it again with a furious growl. He looked around with a grimace on his face.

The desert and the hills… _everywhere around them._

"We're so fucked." He summed up, turning and walking back to the car. "Hey, General!"

Jack stared at him coldly and the Southerner tried to smile.

"What's the damage?"

The doctor was studying him for a few seconds, as if to make sure he was serious.

"The axle is broken…" Jack answered him "…and it's... _totaled_."

"And that means we cannot fix it, right?"

"Right. The frame is twisted to hell.. Okay, I'm gonna call a tow truck…"

"No signal." Sawyer threw in, as Jack attempted to take his mobile out of his pocket "I tried."

"Well, that's just wonderful…"

"We can use the C.B."

"We can try it, but I doubt we're gonna get anybody…" Jack started, leaning against the hood of the car and crossing his arms over his chest "The freeway's all the way on the other side of those hills. You won't get a signal."

"Yeah, so what are we gonna do?" Sawyer asked, getting annoyed again. Jack gave him a look and then smirked.

"We walk."

And with that he pushed past him, leaving him stunned.

"Walk?!" Sawyer exclaimed, turning around, as Jack stopped and looked at him over his shoulder.

"Yep. You and me." He announced, grinning.

"We're in the middle of the desert! We're miles from _anywhere!_" the Southerner protested, pissed off again.

"Well, it's either that, or we sit here and wait for somebody to drive by." Jack said, raising his eyebrows "Have you seen anybody drive by since we got off the freeway?"

"I haven't seen anyone drive by since _you_ decided to take the shortcut!" Sawyer growled and was suddenly grabbed by the arm.

"How 'bout you and me go for a little walk, huh?" Claire offered, as he looked at her "And you're gonna cool yourself down."

"Thanks a lot, Mama, but it's 200 degrees out here! I doubt I'd be able to cool down." He snapped and stormed off. Jack shook his head and Claire sighed heavily.

"I told you it was a bad idea to take Ana with us." He told her and she rolled her eyes.

"No… the bad idea was to take _Sawyer_." She protested, making him smirk.

* * *

Ana was looking through the clothes in her bag and she found a black tank top at the bottom of it. She pulled her wet sweatshirt off and just then, Sawyer entered the trailer, searching for someone to argue with and he found the only person, who could have always come up with smart-ass responses on the most sarcastic of his comments.

Ana turned around and her eyes darkened at the sight of him. She quickly covered her bare chest with the top. He seemed to be stunned and after a short while he couldn't help, but size her up.

"Whatever you're looking for..." She started coldly, making him look back up at her "... it's not here."

"Now how can you know what I'm lookin' for, huh?" He asked, trying to make this question sound naturally. He expected her to roll her eyes, but instead she just dropped her gaze and turned around, giving him a few seconds to admire her back. She put the top over her head and then attempted to push past him, but he grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"Did she tell you?" He questioned, as she gazed up at him in surprise.

"Let go of me." Ana told him bitterly, not even bothering to ask, what and who he was talking about.

"Did Claire tell you I had been trying to find you for three months?" he asked, ignoring her words. Ana blinked, as she was caught off guard.

"What?"

"She didn't want to tell me, where you live. She didn't even want to give me your number."

"Good." the Latina commented, trying to jerk her arm away from his grasp, but only making him tighten it.

"I've been waiting for you to show up at work, but--"

"They kind of... dismissed me." She confessed, interrupting him. He frowned and attempted to say something more. He was already opening his mouth, when Claire came in.

"Ana, do you--?" She paused, when she saw them together. Just from one look at the couple she could tell, that Ana wasn't happy "Am I interrupting?"

Sawyer let go of Ana's arm quickly and smirked at the blonde.

"Nah, sweetheart. We were just talkin'."

Ana looked at him with disgust and pushed past him, exiting the trailer. Claire watched her go and then turned to glare at Sawyer.

But he didn't bother to explain this to her. Instead he quickly ran after Ana, not even glancing back.

"Why?!" He exclaimed, as he was trying to catch up to her "Why'd you have to to hide from me?! Why didn't you let me explain?!"

The Latina was trying to ingore him, as she passed a confused Jack and stunned Kate by.

"You can't just run away, okay?!" Sawyer yelled at her back "How long are you plannin' on doin' so?!"

Ana stopped suddenly, making him stop too, right behind her. She slowly turned around with cold and emotionless eyes, breathing heavily.

"As long as it's neccesary for you to understand I hate you." She growled through gritted teeth "And as long as you start to hate _me_."

Everybody was watching them carefully. Jack and Kate stood next to the car, both shocked at the confrontation. Charlie seemed to be confused, but Claire was mad. She attempted to walk over to them, but Charlie grabbed her arm.

"Don't." He whispered, when she sent him a questioning look "Just let it happen."

She let out a heavy sigh and turned to look back at the couple.

Sawyer froze at her last words and she used it to try to get away from him, but he couldn't let her go... _just yet_.

"It's been four months and you're still so mad, that you can't even gimme _one minute _to explain this to you?"

"There's nothin' to explain, Sawyer." Ana said firmly "I'm trying to get away from you... Just let me go."

And with that she walked away, leaving him stunned and hurt. Let her go?... _No way_. He wouldn't ever let her go. Sooner or later... she would _have to _listen to him.

He didn't notice, as Kate approached him and almost didn't hear, when she spoke to him.

"I don't understand you, y'know..." She announced, narrowing her eyes, as they both watched Ana go away "She treats you like shit, blames you for everything that happened, then leaves you in pieces and yet you still want to get her back?"

"Kate, you got _no _idea, what you're talking about." He told her quietly, not bothering to look at her "Believe me..."

"Oh yes, I do. She's been treating you like shit, since she was shot... She's been treating _us_ like shit, as if it was _our _fault. She didn't have a right, she didn't have a _reason_ to--"

"Yes, she did." He marmured under his breath, but unfortunetely Kate heard this.

"What did you say?"

He sighed heavily and cursed himself. What has he just let slip out?!

"Nothin'." Sawyer growled, hoping she would let it go.... But it couldn't be that easy.

"No, what did you say?" Kate demanded, looking furious "She _did_ have a reason? What gave her right to treat her best friends that way?! The accident wasn't our fault and she survived it, so what kind of reason could she have to--"

"She was pregnant!" He growled, cutting her off. The brunette was caught off guard and frowned, as if she didn't know what he was talking about. Didn't know... or didn't _want_ to know.

"What does it have to do with--"

"She was pregnant... when she was shot." Sawyer added quietly, feeling guilty for telling her this, but... it didn't really matter anymore.

"What?" Kate gasped with a horrified expression on her face, as she was taken aback.

"She miscarried." He choked out and the mention of it made him feel sick "Our baby died."

Kate froze, as if somebody had dampened her spirits.

"What are you talkin' about?" She gasped, terrified and he swallowed hard, looking away "Why didn't you tell me? Why didn't _she_ tell me?"

"We decided not to tell anyone." Sawyer told her, staring at the ground.

"But she should have told me! I am--" She paused and her eyes glistened "...I _was_ her best friend."

_Flashback_

_Almost five months ago_

"Pick up, Ana..." Kate mumbled, as she was walking in circles impatiently, holding a cellphone to her ear "Pick _up_."

"Hello?" A whsipered voice rung out on the other line.

"It's me." Kate said qiuetly. She had a weird feeling, that Ana had been crying.

"What do you want?"

"I, uh... I just wanted to know, how you feeling." the brunette announced, surprised at the sharp tone of her friend.

"I'm okay." Ana answered, but her voice was dry... _emotionless. _

"That's good." Kate mumbled unsurely, not really knowing what to say. Sawyer warned her, that Ana could act like that, but she thought, that as her best friend she wouldn't be treated that way.

"Yeah, great." the Latina said briefly and hung up on her without a farewell.

And Kate was left, standing stunned and shocked in her room with empty, short signals, echoing in her ears.

_The End of flashback_

"That's why she was acting this way." Kate stated, as she blinked away her tears and Sawyer nodded briefly.

"We haven't been speaking to each other, since she left the hospital. We didn't say a word to one another for a month...She wasn't _my_ Ana anymore..." He said and grimaced, as if saying this was hurting him "The first time we actually talked was before our argument... And then she left.... And then... And then you know, what happened..." He finished, not being brave enough to say exactly, what he meant. Now Kate looked away, feeling sick.

_Flashback_

_About four months ago_

There was a knock at the door, which made Sawyer shoot up to the seating positions, since for the last ten hours he had been laying flat on his bed, fully clothed, waiting...

He stood up quickly, ran over to the door and opened it, hoping to see a smirking, dark-haired Latina in the doorway....

...But it wasn't a smirking, dark-haired Latina. It was a blonde woman with a grimace on her pale face.

"Claire..." He gasped, not trying to hide his surprise and disappointment "Wh-what are you doin' here?"

She sent him a stern, cold glare and pushed past him without a greeting or answer. Sawyer frowned at the behavior. He had never seen Claire look at him that way before.

His eyes followed her, as she walked away to the room on their left, not even glancing back at the stunned Southerner, who barely managed to close the door.

When he entered the room, Claire already had a bag in her hand and she was taking out clothes from an opened wardrobe.... She was taking out _Ana's_ clothes...

"Hey!" Sawyer growled, shaking his head in anger "What the hell d'ya think you doin'?!"

She didn't answer him and it made Sawyer even more furious.

"_What_ are you doin'?!"

"I'm packin' Ana's clothes if you haven't noticed yet." Claire announced simply. _As if it was just that simple..._

"Leave'em!" He snapped, not caring about his bitter tone anymore.

"You know, I understand, that it was hard for you to deal with the accident and to face its consquences, I really do..." the blonde started, putting the clothes to the bag "... But there is one thing I _can't _understand. " She said, turning to look him in the eye "How could you do this to her? _How_?"

Sawyer's expression softened and he attempted to answer, but Claire wasn't about to let him do so.

"I just... I don't know, I thought you were... _different_...I--" She let out a slight sigh, as if she didn't have the strength to continue. So she just gazed at him with disappointment and disgust and got back to packing. The Southerner was watching her for a short while, before shaking his head and tearing the clothes out of her hands abruptly.

"Where is she?" He demanded sharply, as Claire gazed up at him with no emotion in her blue, clear eyes, that used to be so warm and that now were looking at him with so much hatred. "_Where_?"

She didn't asnwer. She _couldn't_ answer. She made Ana a promise... And Sawyer knew just from one look at her, that she wasnt going to tell him anything.

"I_ need _to know." He tried one more time, almost pleading "I... I have to explain, you don't understand--"

"She needs time, Sawyer.... Just let her have it."

"No, you don't get it... She thinks, that I... God, I gotta talk to her! Just tell me, where she is, Claire!... _Please_!" He exclaimed with desperation and she frowned in surprise. She had never heard him say 'please' before.

But she had no other choice than to ignore him, as she took the clothes from his limp hands and put them into the bag.

"I'll come back for the rest later." She told him, zipping it and leaving the room in hurry.

"Claire, please!" He yelled out, following her to the door "I have a_ right _to know! She's my fiancée!"

The blonde stopped, dead in her tracks and after a second or two she slowly turned around to face him.

"She _was _your fiancée... But you blew your chance." Claire told him coldly and attempted to open the door, but he caught her wrist.

"Please..." He whispered "Just tell me, what to do..."

Her eyes softened and she could see the regret and pure desperation on his face. He asked her what he should do... And it really hurt her to tell him what she had been instructed to say.

"Leave her alone."

He stared at her, obviously shocked. He couldn't understand, what had happened.... _How did they get here?_

"But..." Sawyer began with a voice so full of pain, that it made Claire feel really sorry for him "But I love her."

She stared up at him and was shcoked to see signs of tears in his eyes.

"If you really do..." She said softly "... then you'll let her go."

And with that she placed her hand on his and made him let go of her wrist, before opening the door and leaving without another word.

And Sawyer was left, staring at the closed door blankly for what seemed like hours. Then he leaned his back against the wall behind him and sinked down it slowly. He spent the whole night, sitting on the cold floor with his head buried in his hands. He had no strength to get up.... to get on with his life.

This was it. He hasn't seen Ana since that day. He hasn't heard from her. It was almost, as if nobody named Ana Lucia had ever existed. It was almost as if he had dreamed up the five years of the happy life he had experienced with a woman he had loved.

Just like that... She was gone. And it was killing him. He died inside with the sound of door, that she had closed behind her.

His life seemed to be over for him.

What was the point in living, when you got nobody to live for?

_The End of flashback_

"I'm so sorry, Sawyer..." Kate managed to choke out after a minute of dead silence "I am _so_ sorry..."

He swallowed hard, watching the small, lonely figure of Ana, standing far away from them. He let out a heavy breath and then looked at Kate, who was watching him carefully.

"I know you are." Sawyer said with a small smile "Let bygones be bygones..."

"Maybe we can still fix everythin'..."

"We can fix nothin', Freckles." He threw in quietly "Just look at her..."

Kate turned her head to stare at Ana and she felt sad as guilt washed her over.

"She's done." Sawyer summed up and walked away. Kate watched him go and then glanced at the Latina one more time, before turning and following him. They both made their way to the car and everybody welcomed them with frowns on their faces.

"So we got a plan, doctor Giggles?" Sawyer asked, trying to act normal, as if everything was just fine. It was typical of him, really.

"Yeah, to tell you the truth, we do." Jack replied, smiling proudly.

"I can't wait to hear it." The blonde man said sarcastically.

"Well I think I should get Ana first." Claire announced and walked away with Aaron in her arms, being followed by everybody's stares. She could feel their eyes on her back. After a minute or two she was already standing beside Ana, who was just watching the clear, blue sky above her.

"Hey, "A"." The blonde started, smiling lightly at her companion.

"Hi." Ana answered briefly, still looking up.

"How you holdin' up?"

"Well, I am _thrilled_." the Latina stated, staring at Claire with a small smirk on her face.

"Yeah..." Claire laughed, hitching Aaron higher up in her arms, not noticing the sad look on Ana's face, as she gazed at the baby "This is a total drag... I hope my brother's got a really good plan..."

* * *

"I'm sure this desert is full of rattlesnakes!" Kate growled, as she exited the trailer with two deck-chairs in her hands. Jack was sitting in the car, studying a map and Sawyer was leaning against the hood, watching Claire and Ana talk.

"You know, I saw a documentary on desert snakes..." Charlie began, coming over to Kate and helping her put the deck-chairs at intervals, before the trailer "...on the Discovery Channel...And there's some species..." He continued, staring up at the Brunette, who had a grimace on her face "...if you get bitten, you can die within like... 25 minutes."

"Cool." Kate responded with a frown, making Charlie grin.

"Honey!" Jack called for her from the car "Can you bring me my jacket?!"

"I'll be right there, honey!" Charlie exclaimed, immitating Kate's voice. She narrowed her eyes at him with a mischevious smirk and showed him a middle finger, before entering the trailer, hearing his chuckle.

Kate looked around and found Jack's jacket on a bed. She grabbed it and his hat, which was next to it and attempted to leave, when suddenly a sparkle caught her eyes, as she glanced at the window. It was like the reflection of a sun in a mirror... In the middle of the desert, that was behind the trailer. The brunette came closer to the window and parted the persiennes and then there was the glint again. She frowned in surprise, waiting for the sparkle to appear again... when--

"BOO!!"

Something, or rather _someone_, suddenly bounced at the window from the other side, making Kate jump away from it with a yell. There was a laugh and she groaned with anger.

"Charlie!" She screamed, coming over to the window again "Fucker!" She swore, hitting the glass with Jack's jacket.

"Could you get me a Twinkie?" He asked childishly, sticking his face to the window, making his nose flatten.

"No!" Kate exclaimed, pissed off.

"Aww!" Charlie cooed.

"Ugh!" She growled in disgust and slapped her hand against the glass, where his face was, making him laugh again, as he walked away.

Kate shook her head, cursing under her breath. She was about to turn and walk out, but remembered the flash and stared at the window again, looking out for it. She saw nothing, though. Maybe she fancied, that she had seen it... Kate shook it away and exited the trailer. She faced Charlie, who held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. She rolled her eyes with a smirk and walked over to Jack and Sawyer, who were bending over a map.

"Just keep walking this direction..." Jack told the blonde man "...You find out where the road leads and I'll head back the way we came....It's gotta lead somewhere...Maybe back to the freeway."

"So that's your plan?"

Everybody turned to look at Ana, who had said it.

"Yeah..." The doctor answered slowly after a while "Pretty much..."

"Well, then you're gonna need something." She announced and entered the trailer. Sawyer looked at Claire, but she just shrugged. After a few seconds Ana got out, holding a box in her hands.

"What's that?" Charlie asked, curious.

"Here, hold this." Ana told him and he took it from her. She opened the box and took out a black gun.

"No, I don't think so, Ana." Jack protested and she sent him a look.

"Relax." She tried to reassure him "I'm a licensed professional, no worries. Besides, I'd take my bullets over your prayers any day."

"Well, some things never change." Claire stated, smirking at Jack.

"So, what about, like, uh, scorpions...and coyotes and stuff?" Charlie asked and Ana laughed briefly.

"Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition." She answered and held up the gun to Jack.

"No, I don't need a gun to find help, thank you very much." He announced, making her roll her eyes.

"It's for protection, come on! Who knows what's out there!"

"_Nothing's _out there. It's just a_ desert_!"

"I wouldn't ask you to take this just for the sake of it, you know? I want to be sure you're safe."

"That's really sweet of you, Ana, but I really don't need the gun." Jack repeated once again, his voice firm "I'd probably just shoot my foot off."

"You won't shoot any part of your body off, as long as the safety's on." The Latina told him with a smirk "And it _is_ on."

The doctor was studying her carefully and when she raised her eyebrows he sighed and took it from her.

"Thanks... But I ain't gonna have to use it."

"Well, I hope so." Ana stated seriously, taking out another gun from the box and sticking it behind her belt.

Kate came over to Jack, handing him his jacket.

"Thanks, honey." He said, putting it on. She smiled and then tried to put the hat on his head.

"I don't want it." He objected, moving his head away.

"You need it." The brunette told him firmly. Charlie, Claire and Ana looked at the couple.

"It gives me hat hair!... I don't like it..." Jack complained, still trying to get away.

"Who cares? It's not about fashion!" Kate responded stubbornly.

"All right! Thank you..."

Claire let out a brief chuckle and Sawyer rolled his eyes, as Jack moved to kiss Kate.

"Okay, okay! Enough of the sweet shit!" the Southerner exclaimed, irritated. Jack and Kate broke apart with smiles on their faces.

Ana shook her head at this. Sawyer would have nothing against it if _he_ had someone to make out with too. _Effin' hypocrite._

"Hey, listen..." Jack said to the blonde man "Uh, if you don't find help within five or six miles...just come back. All right?"

"You got it, doc." Sawyer assured him with a grin on his face

"I'm gonna go to the gas station..."

"You're just never gonna make it back by sunset is the only problem..." Kate announced with a doubt and concern in her voice.

"Hun, it's only about eight miles." He tried to reassure her. "I'll borrow the old man's car. Use his phone, if he's got one. I'll be back with a tow truck before nightfall."

"I think we should pray before you go." Claire announced firmly, making Ana grimace.

"Oh come on!"

"Is it really so much to ask?"

"Yes." the Latina answered briefly, rolling her eyes.

"Come on." Charlie spurred her on, grabbing her arm and tagging her along with him.

"Dammit." Ana growled, but had no other choice, but follow him

All of them stood in a circle, wrapping arms around each other. Charlie wrapped his around Ana's waist and tickled her side.

"Stop it!" She snapped, muffling a laugh. She was very ticklish.

"Please, bless us at this time..." Claire began, when the Briton finally decided to calm down "...and send your guardian angels...to help us to walk through this valley in our faith..."

"...this, yeah, with the help of thy dear Lord." Sawyer finished for her quickly "Amen! Can we go now?"

The blonde woman sent him a glare and they let go of one another. Ana took out one more gun from the box and wanted to ask Charlie to give it to Sawyer, but he was busy with Claire and Aaron. She turned to look for somebody else to do it, but Jack and Kate were busy as well. So with a heavy sigh she came over to the lonely Southerner and held up the gun unsurely.

"Here." Ana said coldly and he stared at her with a frown.

"How many guns did you take?"

"Three. One's with Jack, one's gonna be with you and another one's stayin' with me." She explained him quickly, trying to avoid his eyes. "It's loaded."

Sawyer was watching her for another five seconds, before raising his hand, but instead of taking the gun from her he grabbed her wrist and pulled her closer. Ana gasped in surprise, but it didn't stop her from glaring up at him with fire in her dark eyes.

"You ain't gonna say nothin' to me?" He asked quietly, gazing down at her. She swallowed hard, feeling his warm body against her own. It took her a while to respond.

"Be safe, Sawyer." Ana whispered and slapped the gun against his chest, making him catch it, before she had a chance to drop it. And with that she pulled away from him and walked back to the others.

"Charlie! Take care of my sister!" Jack called to the blonde man.

"Roger that, sir." He called back with a nod.

"Honey? Keep the hat on, okay?" Kate told the doctor, making him grimace.

"Don't gimme that look!"

"See ya later." Jack laughed, kissing her forehead "Love you."

"Love you too." She responded with a smile and he smiled back at her and walked away, glancing back at Claire and Aaron."Be careful!"

"Hey, Chuckie!" Sawyer drawled, coming over to him "Keep an eye on Ana." He added in a whispered tone, so that Claire wouldn't hear him.

"You got it, mate." Charlie assured him with a smirk. The Southerner nodded and pushed past Kate, patting her shoulder "Take care, Freckles."

"You too!" She called at his back, as he walked away in the opposite direction from Jack's.

None of them were aware, that somebody had been watching them through binoculars...

**A/N:** Hope U all liked it! There are more flashbacks to come and they are not going to be just from Sawyer's or Kate's POV.


	3. Son of a bitch

**Wickedgal08:** "ah hun! Another perfect update! glad we got some insight into Ana's bg and I cannot wait to read more!!" Thank U so so so SO much!!! :DDD Are ya sure you come from the same planet, that I do? O_o... Coz people, that are as nice and as helpful as you are simply don't exist here! :O

"so happy to beta you!! *hugs*" Well, I'm happier U beta me! :DD XD *hugs back!*

**Allie:** "now i just need to know what sawyer did that needs explaining" Have a little patience, please. xD You will find out.

"cant wait for more especially those flashbacks" Glad to hear that! :)

**doublell20:** "Loved it! Very interesting and intriguing." Thank U very much!

**Renata Holloway:** "Very well done! Your story is awesome! I'm enjoying the mystery a lot." Thanks! XD

"My question is why Ana can't forgive Sawyer? He's really guilty about what happened? She need to let him to explain his side to her!" Same here. Have a little patience. You don't know what he did to her. _Yet_. XD

**missy42:** First of all, thank U for the **huge** reviews! :O Your opinion really means **a lot **to me. So... thank U!

""some of the characters will end up dead." **crosses fingers** Please let it be teh k8!" Can't say! _Won't_ say! XD

"Dude. What did they do to Ana Lucia?" I don't know. *shruggs*

"Or dear, please don't tell me Sawyer cheated on Ana Lucia with teh k8!" *would reply but eats at the moment*

"Dude, it's Henry Gale/Ben Linus/Benry, isn't it?! I always thought he had a sick, twisted thing for Ana Lucia." Uh, no, actually it's not Ben. It's the same guy, who was in the movie, I didn't even think to replace him with someone from Lost. But it's a really good idea! And yeah, I always thought he had a thing for Ana too!

"Dude. Is Charlie trying to get something started with Ana Lucia? With his wife and baby right there?!" No, no! :O No! And again _no_! He's just her best friend and he knew she wouldn't want to stay with Sawyer.

"Of course, depression does make a person feel distant from the people they care about, making it really hard to be a good friend." I wouldn't say it better.

"Aw, Charlie. Always good for some comic relief!" I agree! XD

"Oh, this is fantastic! I really love the way you're fleshing out the characters and how they interact with one another." Thank U!!!!! :DDD So glad U like it!

"It's just a suggestion, of course. I really hope you don't misunderstand me because I really am adoring this fic just the way it is." No, of course, I know exactly what you mean. I understood U just fine. Thank U very much for the suggestion! I'll try what I can do to add the 'icing'! ;D It won't be easy for me, but I'll try my best.

**

* * *

Chapter 3: "Son of a bitch."**

Claire entered the trailer and walked over to a little crib, that was next to one of the small windows.

"Hi sweetness!" She said, looking down at a yawning Aaron "Hello!"

The little boy let out a brief sigh, as his mother picked him up.

"Who doesn't want to sleep anymore?" The blonde breathed, holding the baby to her chest "You hungry?"

Just then Ana came in with a barking Vincent at her side. She was holding a lash in her hand.

"What'cha doin'?"

"He was trying to get away." Ana announced, looking down at the excited dog "Dunno, what's wrong with him..."

"Leave him here and join us outside, we're having dinner." Claire told her and the Latina grimaced.

"I'm not really hungry..."

"Ana, c'mon!" the blonde growled, hitching Aaron up higher in her arms "Just pay no attention on her."

With that Claire left, leaving her alone with Vincent. The dog barked again and Ana shook her head and looked down at him with a frown.

"What's the matter with ya?" She murmured, stroking his ears "Good boy."

_Flashback_

_5 years ago_

"Come on, Ana, please!" Charlie pleaded "Just once!"

"No, that's _not_ happening." She objected firmly.

"Come on!"

"Nuh-uh."

"Kate, would you help me?"

"Leave her alone, Charlie." the Brunette replied, sitting down beside Ana.

"You're _not _helping."

"Oh my God, what _is_ it with you?" the Latina questioned him "You know exactly, that I_ don't.__D__ance._"

"Yes, you do. And you do with me. And you do with me now, so come on!" Charlie insisted stubbornly, grabbing her arm and pulling her up.

"Jesus _fucking _Christ, _no_!" Ana told him, pushing him away "You've been dancing for the entire time with Kate, so why can't you just leave me alone and take her to dance with you again?"

"Because _Kate _is not going to dance with the moron again." the brunette said, glaring at her.

"Why not?"

"Come on, y'know exactly the way he dances, Luce! People were laughing their asses off!" the Brunette answered her, making Charlie grimace "And besides, nobody else is dancin' here."

"Who cares?! Ana, come on! We're at a party!"

"Charlie. This is _a bar_." She remarked.

Kate giggled under her breath and when he glanced at her, she stopped smiling and shrugged, taking her drink from a table.

"Okay. I'm turning on my radar then." He told them and the girls groaned "Who's gonna be the next victim of the famous Charlie Pace?... Ah, I see her!"

"Who's it this time?" Ana asked, sipping tequilla and tonic from her glass.

"The blonde chick." He answered, pointing at a young girl with blonde hair and hazel eyes.

"I don't know her, but I already feel sorry for her." Kate announced, making Ana chuckle briefly.

"Well at least she's not as bitchy as you guys are!" Charlie exclaimed and walked away.

"Ouch." Ana said, watching him go "We pissed him off."

"I guess." Kate responded, staring as he approached the blonde woman and greeted her. They were talking for a minute, she was laughing from time to time and then Charlie was already dancing with her and she seemed to be having fun, not caring about other people around.

"What the hell!" Kate and Ana said at the same time.

"Unbelieveable." the Latina added, frowning in surprise.

"Excuse me."

Ana and Kate turned to look at a dark-haired man, standing beside their table.

"You know that kid?" He asked them, pointing at Charlie.

"Uh, yeah... He's our friend, why?" Ana questioned him, raising her eyebrows.

"Is he all right?"

"Sorry?" Kate asked, shaking her head in confusion.

"See that blonde girl with him?"

"Yup." both girls nodded.

"Well, she's my sister." the man told them and they both stared up at him in surprise "And I want to know, whether I should kick his ass or leave him be."

"Leave him be." Ana said "I'll kick his ass for you."

"Ana!" Kate hissed, poking her "No, uh, he's all right..." She added, looking up at the stranger.

"Okay then. I'm Jack." He introduced himself and Kate smiled.

"Hi, I'm Kate. And this is--"

"Ana, right?" Jack finished for her.

"Well, more specifically, Ana Lucia." the Latina corrected him with a smirk "It's nice to meet you, Jack."

"You too." He nodded with a smile "So maybe we'll join them?" He offered, holding his hand up to Kate, who immediately blushed "So that people can laugh at us all, huh?"

Ana smirked at her and the brunette answered her with a glare.

"Uh...Yeah, sure." Kate murmured quietly and then took his hand, letting him lead her away. Ana watched, as they walked over to Charlie and the other girl and began to dance next to them.

"And that's how a beautiful woman was left alone to be kidnapped by some psycho murderer."

She turned around and saw a tall man with blonde, longer hair and a huge grin on his face. She raised her eyebrows and smiled.

"And that's how a prince charming appears out of nowhere to save her, right?" Ana asked, deciding to play his game.

"Damn right, Chica." He admitted, as his grin widened even more "Sawyer." He introduced himself, holding up his hand. She stared down at it with a smirk.

"Ana Lucia." She said, shaking his hand.

"So what are you drinkin'?" He questioned, sitting beside her and she frowned, glancing at him.

"Why?"

"Well, I need to know to order you the second drink, don't I?"

"What makes you think I even feel like drinking more than what I got here?" She asked him with a chuckle "And what makes you think I'd take the drink?"

"Can't blame a man for trying." Sawyer announced and she rolled her eyes with a smile.

"I guess I can't...." She sighed "Tequilla and tonic."

He nodded and attempted to get up, but was stopped, as she grabbed his elbow.

"..._With.._ a wedge of lemon." Ana added, smirking devilishly.

"Knew it couldn't be that simple." He murmured, finding it was hard to breathe when she was looking at him that way.

"Hope you don't want to get me drunk." She stated, letting go of his arm "Coz if you do, then don't even try."

"I have never done it to any woman, Lulu." He assured her, putting his hand on his chest, where his heart was. She stared at him suspiciously and smiled at the nickname.

"Good. I'm not interested in strange, bold and nasty Southerners, anyway." Ana announced and he looked at her with furrowed eyebrows.

"Good. Coz flirting with sexy, hot and steamy Latina girls ain't my thing too." Sawyer responded with a serious expression on his face, although his voice was rather amused. She was studying him for a few seconds and then couldn't help, but laugh.

_The End of flashback_

"Please, take your feet off the table!" Claire snapped at Charlie, who rolled his eyes, but listened to her. "Honestly! Just because we're camping doesn't mean you get to act like a pig!"

The Brit grimaced and mumbled something under his breath, making Kate chuckle. Just then Ana exited the trailer, closing the door, before Vincent managed to get away. She came over to the table and sat down on one of the deck-chairs next to Charlie, taking a glass with juice in it. Claire sat down beside her with Aaron in her arms and prepared to feed him.

"I can't believe that we're stranded in the middle of nowhere on our first common vacation." Kate admitted, opening a box with cookies.

"You know, if we just stayed on the main road..." Charlie began, grabbing a cookie from her "...we'd be in California right now."

"What I'd give for a hot shower and a cold margarita..." Kate said, staring blankly at the clear sky with half-closed eyes.

"The beach." Charlie added and the brunette sighed.

"A massage..." Claire threw in, pressing her lips against Aaron's head.

"I'll take a real bed." Ana announced and Charlie nodded with enthusiasm.

"Yeah...And the chronic." The Briton said and Ana almost choked, while sipping her juice.

"The what?" Claire asked, looking up, as Ana's choking brought her back to reality. Kate laughed out loud and she looked at her. "What?"

"The chronic!" The brunette repeated, breathlessly.

"Charlie!" Claire gasped, looking at him in disbelief.

"Thanks a lot, Kate." He murmured, glaring at her. The brunette just shrugged with an innocent laugh.

"Hey, has anybody seen my red sweatshirt?" Charlie asked nervously, because Claire was still glaring at him like a predator "You know, the hoodie thing in the backseat?"

Ana rolled her eyes and chuckled at his lame change of subject. The Brit looked at her with a mischevious smirk on his face.

"Ana?"

Her smile faded immediately, as she glanced at him.

"Weren't you sitting on it?"

"I haven't touched your smelly sweatshirt, okay?" the Latina announced, grabbing a bottle with water from the table.

"It was fresh!"

Just then Vincent started to bark again in the trailer.

"Why is the dog so excited?" Claire questioned Ana, who simply shook her head.

"I don't know..."

"There's probably some rattlesnakes somewhere around! Ew!" Kate exclaimed, grimacing.

"You know how Freud would have interpreted your obsession with rattlesnakes, Kate?" Charlie asked and again Ana almost choked on her water. Kate opened her mouth wordlessly.

"Charlie..." Claire gasped, trying not to laugh "That's so wrong!"

"Charlie Pace!" Kate called out, hitting him with her hat "That's gross!"

The Brit held up his hands in a mock of surrender and laughed.

"That was a little gross. I'm sorry." He announced with a huge smirk on his face "I apologize to the entire table!"

"Well, thank you!" Kate responded, glaring at him playfully. Claire chuckled and kissed Aaron's forehead lovingly. Ana quickly looked away and pretended to be interested in watching the hills. Charlie spotted the sad expression on her face anyway, but decided not to say anything.

"It's too hot out here, I'm going to the trailer." Kate stated after a while and got up from the table "Does anyone need anything?"

"No." Claire answered for everybody and the brunette walked away to the trailer and opened the door, forgetting about Vincent.

"Hey, don't--" Ana started, but it was too late. The dog was already running away "Dammit!" She cursed and then got up and stormed after him.

"I'm sorry!" Kate called at her back, but there was no response.

"Ana, don't go away from the trailer!" Claire yelled after her, but the Latina was already far away.

"Shit." Kate breathed, running a hand through her hair "I didn't mean to..."

"It's okay." the blonde assured her.

"I'll get her..." Charlie told them and sprinted in the direction, where Ana had run off to.

_Flashback_

_5 years ago_

"I'm not sure..."

"But_ I am_. You listen to _me_."

"I don't know 'bout this."

"Jack, what the fuck is wrong with you?!" Sawyer hissed at the confused doctor, obviously losing patience "The girl is hot, smart and settled. What else does a man like you need?"

"I don't even know her."

"That's why you're here! To get to know her! Tell me you don't want it!"

"I do!"

"Then what the hell are you waiting for?! Ask her for the damn phone number!"

Jack clenched his jaw and looked over his shoulder, watching Kate, Ana and Claire talk. Charlie was too busy with staring at Claire to notice that they were other people around. The music was still playing in the background, but Jack couldn't really focus on anything else.

"Come on, man. Make your move! You may never see her again!" Sawyer tried to convince him.

"What about your Latina?" the doctor teased him, turning to stare at his friend again.

"You let me worry 'bout that, Jackie boy."

"I hate it when you call me like that."

"Yeah, well old habits die hard." Sawyer told him with a smirk "And as for Ana Lucia...It's not your fucking buisness."

"I've seen the way you looked at her. The girl's in trouble..."

"Get the fuck off my back, Jackass."

"Should I warn her?"

"Hey, what's your problem?" Sawyer asked him seriously.

"Look, she's Kate's friend. _Kate's. _And I am trying to ask _Kate_ out. So if you hurt Ana Lucia, I'll have no chances with her!"

"Who said I'd hurt Ana?"

"Coz that's what you do to women." Jack announced "You flirt with 'em, screw 'em and then leave 'em."

"It's not a fucking_ rule_, man."

"So what, you're telling me, that you won't do that to her?"

Sawyer glared at him and then turned his head to look at the group. He watched as Ana was laughing along with Claire at Charlie's goofy face and something happened to him. He felt those wild butterflies in his stomach and suddenly he felt dry.

"You all right, man?" He heard Jack's voice, echoing in his ears and shook his head unconsciously, turning to look his friend in the eye.

"Jack." Sawyer said qiuetly and the doctor furrowed his eyebrows in confusion "I think I'm in love."

_The End of flashback_

"Vincent!" Ana yelled, as she continued to chase the dog "Vincent, get back here!"

After a long while she lost him from her sight and stopped, breathing heavily. Just then she realized she had run off too far and she had no clue how to go back. Ana looked around, trying to spot something familiar, that would lead her back to the trailer, but she found nothing.

Only rocks and clumps of dried grass everywhere around her. The sun was burning her skin and she felt dry, as sweat covered her forehead.

"Vincent! Come on here, boy!" She shouted again in a husky, tired voice. She was standing in one place for a few seconds and then she heard a barking again. "Vincent!"

She started running again, following the sounds. Maybe it was just because of the hot air, but Ana had a very weird feeling. This place was affecting her in a way she couldn't explain. Something was really wrong here.

"Vincent! Come on, boy!" Ana yelled again, hoping to see the gold, excited Labrador, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen and she really started to worry. It was too early for a panic attack, but she was close to it. The dog was her only companion in those last few months and she had no idea what she would have done without him.

At that point, Ana _did _start to panic, though it wasn't in character for her to let her emotions take over her, and, as well as that, she was exhausted, dirty and tired and she felt sick.

"Vinceeeent!!!" She cried out again. She didn't notice a big stone in front of her and tripped over it. She tried to keep her balance, but soon after that she was laying on the ground with her face in the hot sand and rocks.

Ana slowly picked her head up and choked. She touched her face and fingered a few cuts, that the sharp rocks left on her face.

"Way to go, dumb-ass!" She growled to herself and slowly got up, feeling pain in every muscle of her body "Goddammit..." She added, as she was wiping away the sand, that stung her eyes "Vincent, it's really better for you to come back now or else I'll be really pissed off at you!" She yelled out, angrily, knowing well enough he wouldn't understand her anyway, even if he suddenly showed up.

As if on cue, she heard the barking again, which didn't sound too far away.

"Oh come on..." Ana moaned, as she kept on walking, scretching her head "Fucking sand..." She muttered under her breath. It seemed that talking to herself calmed her down.

It was another five minutes of non-stop walking and calling and finally she managed to spot something on the ground. For a second she thought it was Vincent, but as she came over closer she realized it was a sheep-dog.

"You gotta be kiddin' me..." Ana mumbled, stopping in her tracks. She walked over to the dog and noticed he didn't have one leg and it was obvious he was dead. His hair was blood-stained along his stomach. She stared at the dog in shock. What the hell he was doing here and most importantly... _who _or _what_ killed him?

As she was busy gaping at the dead animal, a sound of footsteps ringed out, as if somebody quickly ran behind her back. Ana quickly turned around, but saw nothing.

"Okay...This is really too much..." She commented, looking around "Okay, come on out, Charlie!"

A wind answered her.

"Honestly, it's not funny!" She shouted and when nobody appeared, she tunred around again and gazed back down at the dog. She knelt down beside him, letting out a heavy sigh. Throughoyt the entire time she had a feeling somebody had been watching her.

"What happened to you...?" Ana asked qiuetly and then grabbed his other leg and gently turned him over and shivered violently at the sight. The dog's stomach was totally ripped up and all his entrails were gone. She stared at him wordlessly with a terrified expression on her face and then stood up and quickly ran away.

She was running as fast as she could, not turning around. She even forgot she had a gun stuck behind her, clipped to her belt.

Something was really wrong. She knew it. After all those years as a cop she could quickly tell if something was not right.

Ana got lost in her own thoughts and didn't notice the edge of a hill. She yelped and tried to grab a hold of something, but it was too late and she fell forward at least five meteres down on the ground, hitting it with her head hard and losing conciousness.

_Flashback_

_Five months ago_

He swallowed hard, when he heard somebody entering the apartment.

"Sawyer?!"

He let out a heavy breath, when it turned out it was Ana.

"You here, Cowboy?!" She called and then entered the kitchen, seeing him at the table with a very serious expression on his face.

"What's wrong?" Ana asked, worried, furrowing her eyebrows, as she came over closer to him. Sawyer glanced up at her and noticed her concern. He got up and now they were face to face.

"Something happened?" She asked in a whispered tone with a fear in her voice "You're really startin' to freak me out, Sawyer..."

He swallowed hard once again and then knelt down in front of her, making her frown in surprise.

"What's wrong? You're sick?" She asked him, bending down and placing her hands on his shoulder, attempting to kneel down too.

"No, no." He protested, stopping her "You stay up."

Ana raised her eyebrows and stood up. He let out a series of heavy breaths and then she suddenly gasped, realizing, what he was trying to do.

"Oh my God..." She whispered and he smiled and took her hand in his with a heavy sigh.

"Ana..." He choked out, breathless "Will you m--"

"Ana, come on!" Charlie yelled, running into the kitchen with a big grin on his face "We're gonna be l--"

He stopped, dead in his tracks, as he saw them in that very weird and very obvious position.

They both stared at him in surprise and he blushed.

"Sorry..." He mumbled, looking down on the ground, but not attempting to leave. Ana laughed, making him look up again.

"Out." She told him with a smirk on her face.

"What?" He asked, frowning.

"Get_ out_, Charlie!" She told him with a chuckle.

"Oh, yeah..._ right_!" He marmured, turning on his heels and quickly storming off. Ana gazed down at Sawyer and he seemed to be out of breath again.

"Will you--" He started again, but this time he was interrupted by Ana, who bent down and took his face in her hands, then kissed him deeply. He was shocked, but not shocked enough to not kiss her back. She grabbed his t-shirt in fists and made him get up, not breaking the kiss. It seemed hours, when they finally pulled away. And now _Ana_ was out of breath.

"Of course I will." She whispered after a while, when she was breathing normally again. He grinned so wide, that she even begad to worry the grin would stay on his face forever.

"You will what?" He teased and her and she crinkled her nose at him, running her hands down his chest.

"It depens on what you _wanna _do..." Ana said in a low, deep voice. He winked at her and then bent down to get a hold of her thighs, picking her up. She chuckled and wrapped her legs around his waist, as she hung her arms loosely around his neck. He ran out of the kitchen with her and Ana spotted Charlie, who was standing next to the door, probably overhearing. She glared at him playfully and mimicked with her arm for him to get lost. He let out a slight laugh, shaking his head.

"And lock the door up behind ya!" She managed to yell, before Sawyer ran with her through the door of their bedroom.

Charlie was standing still for a few more seconds, staring at the door with a smirk. Then he realized, what he was doing and a horrified expression appeared on his face, as he ran out of the apartment, locking the door up behind, not wanting to hear _anything_ else.

_The End of flashback_

"We are livin' in a yellow submarine!" Sawyer sang, as he walked down the road in the middle of the desert "Yellow submarine, yellow submarine!" He continued, happy that nobody was there to make him stop. Although he'd allow Ana smack his head anytime, things were different and if she was about to smack his head, it surely wouldn't be to stop him from singing.

The Southerner let out a heavy breath and licked his dry lips, looking up. He stopped suddenly and opened his mouth wordlessly, as he was staring at a huge bomb crater in front of him.

"What the fuck..." He muttered to himself, coming over closer. The friggin' crater wasn't the biggest surprise for him. When he made his way to the edge and gazed down, he spotted lots of wrecks at the bottom. Destroyed cars... at least twenty of them, probably more "Well, look at that..." Sawyer said in a husky voice and carefully began to climb down the side of a hill.

When he was down, he could take a closer look at the whole mess and he did just that, looking around, trying to find something even more surprising, than seeing the crater in the first place.

He passed by several dusty and crashed cars with ravens on their hoods. He also spotted a derelict trailer and an old bike.

Sawyer walked over to a black car and through the glass he managed to see a sweet, brown teddy-bear in the backseat. He opened the door and bent down to pick it up.

"Aaron's gonna like you." The Southerner mumbled to the toy and stood up, not noticing red traces on the doors, that could have reminded him of finger-marks for sure. Sawyer turned around, smiling proudly. He was sure Claire would be happy to see he brought something for her son. To be honest... he hoped someone _else_ would be happy too.

"And what do we got here?" He questioned, coming over to a white cabriolet with a gun-carriage and a small boat on it. He held out his hand to take a fishing-rod and just then a raven, that was sitting on it bit him on his wrist. "Ouch, son of a bitch!" Sawyer yelped and drove the bird away angrily "Get off, you little snapper!" He exclaimed, furious. "Damn birds!"

He gave the raven ten seconds to fly away and then took the fishing-rod and looked up. It was getting darker and darker. Sawyer gathered all the things he took and walked away from the wrecks.

_Flashback_

Sawyer rolled off of Ana with a satisfied grunt and lay on his side, propping his head up on his elbow. Ana smiled up at him, breathing heavily and he used his other hand to stroke her hair.

"You're sure he left, ain't ya?" He asked her with a mischevious smirk and she rolled her eyes with a chuckle.

"Yeah..." Ana breathed, grinning "I bet he wouldn't have enjoyed listening to the sounds, now would he?"

"He barely would have survived it and would've needed therapy for the rest of his life." The blonde man announced, laughing qiuetly "We got our Chuckie a little hot."

"Stop it, moron." She giggled, smacking his shoulder.

"Poor Claire!" Sawyer added, wearing a horrified expression on his face and Ana laughed, smacking him harder.

"Shut up!" She exclaimed, smirking.

"Ow!" He yelped, pretending to be resentful "I like you, when you're rough." He added after a while, grinning again.

"Oh my God, you're a real asshole, Cowboy!" Ana told him with widened eyes.

"Yeah, but you love me anyway." Sawyer stated, changing his position and now howering above her.

"Sure I do." the Latina confirmed, smiling up at him and running a hand through his blonde, sandy hair, that she adored so much. He didn't wait any second longer and kissed her. Things were getting heated up pretty quickly, but the pair was interrupted by ringing.

They broke apart and Sawyer groaned.

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" He snapped at the cell-phone, that was on the counter beside the bed "Don't pick it up." He told Ana, staring down at her.

"I have to. It may be something important." She said sorrowfully and reached blindly for the mobile "Hello?"

Sawyer sighed, but ignored it and began to nibble on her neck.

"Yeah, it's me." Ana said, closing her eyes and letting out a slight sigh "No... I'm not.... busy." She mumbled, trying her best to be quiet "Stop it!" She hissed at Sawyer qiuetly, pushing him away slightly and making him chuckle "Yeah... Yeah, okay... Okay, I'll be right there. Yeah, bye."

She put the cell-phone down on the counter and looked at Sawyer, who immediately knew what she was about to say. He let out a heavy breath and rested his forehead on her shoulder.

"I... I have to go." Ana said qiuetly after a few seconds "My mom wants me at work..."

"Why couldn't she call somebody else?" He groaned and she sighed.

"There are too many calls and not enough people to answer them."

"And of course you gotta be the one, that needs to answer them on Saturday evening... Right."

"I'm sorry, but now it's not really my choice."

"Of course it _is_ your choice!"

"Okay, you can continue yelling at me, but first... get off of me." Ana told him lightly and he rolled his eyes, but listened and rolled off of her again to let her get up.

"You know... I really think it's the right time for you to quit the job."  
"Sawyer, we've talked about this..." She groaned, attempting to get dressed.

"Yeah, but you're too stubborn to say I'm right."

"And are you?"

"Yeah!" He exclaimed, as if it was obvious "This is too dangerous for you and our kid."

"I'm not even four months pregnant..."

"That's why it's so dangerous. You tell me it's fine. You say everything's all right... that you're careful... But you know what, Chica?_ I'm _the one who can't even watch a movie without thinking that something could have happened to you. I cannot stop thinkin' 'bout it every time you go out."

"That's about the sweetest thing I've ever heard from you." Ana said, looking at him over her shoulder and smiling.

"I'm not kidding, sweetcheeks." Sawyer growled, although coudln't help, but smirk back at her. Just a little...

"Yeah, well, we've already been through this and I'm not about to go through it again, so how 'bout you help me look for my panties instead of being tedious?"

"Well how 'bout you shut that sweet mouth of yours and go back ta bed, instead of being stubborn?"

Ana ignored him and put on her blouse over her head.

"Ignoring me is not gonna lead you anywhere, Princess."

She still didn't say anything, searching for her underwear.

"You're looking for this, hun?"

The latina turned around to see Sawyer holding black panties in his hand.

"Give it to me." She snapped, holding out her hand, but he just smirked "Come on, stop playing with me! I don't have a time for your games!"

"Say 'please'." the Southerner said, making her glare at him with fury. It was just a question of few seconds and then she smacked his head... hard.

"Ouch! Dammit, Chica!" He yelped in pain and Ana used the occasion to take the underwear from his hand. She quickly put it and her jeans on and grabbed the cell-phone from the counter.

"See ya soon, Dimples." She breathed and bent down to kiss his cheek.

"Be careful!" He yelled after her, rubbing the side of his head.

"Yeah, I know!" She called back at him in a doorway.

"And Ana!"

"What?" She gasped, stopping again and looking at him over her shoulder.

"Love ya."

Her eyes softened and she sent him a beautiful smile.

"Well, I hope so..." She said softly "Otherwise... what the hell am I livin' for?"

_The End of flashback_

Jack approached the gas station, tired and exhausted. It was very dark already and he was glad he had finally made his way to the bulding.

"Hello?!" He called out "Hey, buddy!"

He walked over to the door and entered the shop slowly and qiuetly. There was some music in the background and the whole scenery was really awful.

"Hello?!" Jack yelled once again and then spotted fridges. He let out a heavy breath, came over to them and took a bottle of fresh, cold water out.

"Hey, uh, I had a bit of a wreck out on your shortcut!" He announced out loud, aproaching the cash

"Yo!" He tried once again and then reached into his pocket "I grabbed some water, all right?!" The doctor said, putting some money on a table. He turned around and noticed a phone. He came over to it and decided to try it "It's dead, dammit..." Jack whispered to himself "Hello, my friend!"

There was no answer and he began to lose his golden, famous patience. Suddenly he heard a quiet creak on his left. Jack turned and glanced at a door on his left.

"Anybody here?!" He called out, coming through it "Anybody home?"

Jack entered another part of the shop that seemed to be some kind of home for him. There was a small room and it was really dark inside, but in the light coming from the shop Jack could see a small window and a table with lots of things on it. Jack came over to it and spotted a lamp. He switched it on and then opened a drawer. There was some money and other stuff inside. He knew him he shouldn't have been rummaging, but something was wrong and he knew that, too.

Jack glanced up and noticed some pieces of newspapers were attached on the wall. He grabbed the lamp and pulled it up, so that the light fell on the wall and he could see a lot of articles from old newspapers.

_GOVERNM__E__NT CEASES NUCLEAR TESTING_

It was a title from one of the articles. Jack frowned and continued to read others.

_NUCLEAR WEAPONS ENTERING NEW AGE_

He narrowed his eyes, feeling increasing fear.

_Min__e__rs Refuse to _

_Abandon Their Land_

There were some pictures of people.... mutatated people.

_Military Ra__is__es Miner_

_Town to the Ground_

There were images of babies with unnaturally big heads or eyes, flattened noses and filthy teeth. Jack grimaced and then his eyes found another article...

_Family Vanishes in_

_New Mexico Foothills_

He felt dry and his heart sank.

**Local Authorities Haunted by**

**Mysterious Desert Disappereances**

_New Mexico Desert-A New Bermuda Triangle?_

"You son of a bitch." Jack said to himself, finally realizing where the hell the guy had sent them to. He turned on his heels and quickly left the room.

He made his way out of the shop and ran over to an old car, that was near the door. He got in and sat down in the front seat, looking around for keys. He found them behind the wheel and quickly grabbed them with trembling hands. Jack started the engine and the front ligths switched on, shining on a wooden, smelly toilet.

"Jupiter!" A voice called out from the inside and Jack froze in the car. After a while he slowly got out of the car and saw, that only boots could be seen behind the door of the toilet. He reached behind him and took out the gun, that Ana Lucia had insisted him to take so hard. He pointed it at the door and swallowed hard.

"I got some buckshot, ya hear?!" The same voice yelled out thorugh sobs.

"Hey, mister!" Jack called, knowing very well who was inside.

"You don't understand what's going on here..." The man answered.

"Hey!" Jack called again, approaching the toilet.

"These kids....grew up in the mines...like wild animals...."

"Open the door, slowly!" the doctor stated firmly, stooping in front of the door.

"What kind of place that for children?..."

Jack opened the door with one, swift movement and stared down at the same guy they met this morning.

"What kind of a place is that?!" The man cried out, looking up at him with tears in his empty, blank eyes. His face was red and his hair was wet and plastered to his sweaty forehead. He was holding a big bottle of whiskey in one hand and a rifle in the other.

"Okay. Put the weapon down." Jack told him, trying to remind calm "Put it down, easy... Put it down."

"I did the best I could." The guy announced, putting the bottle down and grabbing the rifle with both his hands. "I'm sorry."

"Hey!" Jack yelled, but it was too late, because the man had it already pressed under his chin and there was a shot. Jack grimaced and looked away, feeling like vomiting. (A/N: I decided to skip the description of how his face (or rather what was left from it) looked. :P Kill me. :P). He didn't have a time to do so, though, because suddenly he heard some rustles. He quickly turned around with his heart in a throat.

"Doc..." A whisper rang out and Jack began shooting in the direction that it came from "Hey, doc!"

He looked around, breathing heavily, feeling confused and shocked.

"Doc"

"Doc!"

"Oh, doctor!"

He had no idea what to do. The voices were everywhere around him and there was no escape.

Jack ran over to the car and closed the door. Although before he managed to start the engine again, something moved behind him and--

"Hey, doc."

It was just a question of a few seconds and then all he knew was that the man, who had been sitting in the back seat flung himself on Jack and grabbed his head, throwing him against the window. Jack hit the glass hard and lost conciousness...

**

* * *

A/N:** Thank y'all for the reviews yet again! Hope U enjoyed. I'll put more PB&J, Chana and Cana flashbacks in the next chapter.


	4. Twilight Zone

**Wickedgal08: **"this was AMAZING!!" Thank you so much, it means a **lot**!

"Love the little chana in here too! :DD" Oh the Chana is all for **you**! XD

You're amazing, hun. Thank you **very** much! *hugs*

**Amy: **"Please don't kill Jack!" Ugh, damn. Here it goes. :P Can't promise you anything and remember I gave a warning to **all **readers before.

**BrCl Girl: **"I really like this story." Thanks!

"Finally, Ana's relationship with Charlie is also very sweet." Yeah, the Chana bits are for my awesome beta! :DD I also think they're cute friends. ;) Glad you like'em together!

"All in all, a very good and well written story." Thank you and yet again the credits go to my beta too, **Wickedgal08**. I wouldn't have even botherd to update the fic without her help.

**AllieKat21:** "loved the flashbacks and can not wait for more" Thank you! ;)

"is there a chance we'll find out what sawyer did in the next one?" No. Lol, you need to be more patient. What happened between Ana and Sawyer is the main plot in the story so it stays to be announced in the end. ;)

**suze:** "whoo how shocking! I;m really excited for this fic so update soon!" Aw, thank you! XD

"i'm actually glad you skipped some of those nice descriptions of people shooting thier heads off...that's something better left to the imagination i think." I'm glad I skipped those descriptions, too actually, lol. ;) You're absolutely right.

"great job! update!" Thanks once again!

**Renata Holloway: **"Oh my God! What will happen with Ana, Charlie,Sawyer and Jack? I'm so worry here!" I don't know. :O

"This chapter was so good!" Thank you! And thanks for the quoting, I really appreciate that!

**Ada23Mon.: **"OMG It's fantestic! I love your story ! But please don't kill Charlie:D:D I'm from Poland too:D" Thank you very much! :D No i skoro nikt tu praktycznie nie rozumie po polsku, to tak w sekrecie mogę Ci zdradzić, że na sto procent nasz hobit nie zginie. ;) Dziękuję!

**

* * *

Thank y'all for the FAB reviews! It really means a lot to me you like my fic! And yet again, massive hugs for my Beta! **

**Hope you like the chapter!**

**

* * *

Chapter 4: "Twilight Zone."**

"Ana!" A voice echoed around the desert "ANA!"

"Charlie!" Claire yelled, walking away from the trailer with a flashlight in her hand, because the only source of light was a camp-fire "Chaaarlie!"

"Hey, I'm here!" the Briton yelled back, though it was way too dark for Claire to spot him "I'll be back in a minute!"

With that Charlie began to walk again, looking around for any sign of Ana, but she was nowhere to be seen.

"Ana!" He shouted again, shivering from the cold slightly "Ana!"

* * *

Few meters away Ana was still laying in the sand, unconscious and unaware that a little girl in a dirty, torn dress and a red sweatshirt was sitting beside her, singing quietly under her breath. She had a mis-shapen face, just like those kids on the photos Jack had seen. Although in the darkness she looked almost as normal as any other girl.

"Ana!"

As soon as she heard somebody yell out, she gasped, got up and quickly stormed off, just as Ana opened her eyes slowly. She didn't know what was going on or where she was. All she knew was that her head was about to explode and her whole body was aching...

"Ana!" Charlie gasped, falling to his knees beside her "There you are! What happened?"

She blinked quickly and tried to move, but failed, only being able to let out a quiet hiss.

"Okay, it's all right..." Charlie said softly, realizing she wouldn't get up on her own "It's all right." He gasped out and wrapped one of his arms around her waist and the other one under her knees and then picked her up, "I got ya."

_

* * *

Flashback_

_Four months ago_

Ana rubbed her face with her hands, standing in one spot for at least ten minutes, thinking. She wasn't sure if that was what she wanted to do. Then again, it was her only option.

She slowly rose her hand and knocked on the door before her. Her legs were shaking, nervously. After another ten seconds she heard somebody unlock the door and then she was face to face with Charlie.

"Ana...?" He breathed, surprised "What are you doing here?"

She didn't answer him, busy with fighting her tears. He frowned at her behavior and then his eyes found the bags she had with her. He glanced up back at her, shocked and confused.

"What happened?" He questioned "Why did you come so late and why do you--"

"Can I come in first, Charlie?" She asked him quietly. He decided to shut up and montioned with his arm for her to go ahead.

"Sorry, I didn't think. Let me take those." He said, when she moved to grab her bags.

After another five minutes Ana was sitting in the kitchen with a big mug of coffee in her hand and Charlie and Claire were standing before her.

"So you mind telling us what happened?" the blonde woman asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Charlie decided to wake her up, because Ana's behavior alarmed him so much he assumed he would need some help.

They were shocked to see her coming to their house in the middle of the night, because Ana wasn't in her right mind, since the accident. They thought she would stop keeping in touch with them soon and the last time, when Charlie went to visit her and wanted to try to comfort her somehow, she yelled at him to stay out of her business and he had no other choice but to leave and since that moment he had to stay away, although it was hurting him. Ana has been always like a sister to him and it was breaking his heart to see her like that.

And now that he was looking at his best friend, who seemed to be even more depressed, than the last time he saw her, all he wanted to do was to find some way to help her. She could shut him out all she wanted, but this time... he wasn't going _anywhere_.

"Ana..." Charlie began softly, kneeling down in front of her "What's going on?"

"Can I stay here for a few days?" Ana asked, out of nowhere, gaping blankly at the wall "Until I find something for myself...? I'd go to my mom's, but she had to leave for business and... I didn't have anywhere else to go."

Claire glanced at Charlie, pure sadness filling her eyes and he sent her a helpless look and stared back at the Latina.

"Of course you can." the Brit responded, placing his hands on her arms "You're always welcome here, no matter what."

She stared back at him, her eyes cold and empty... _dead._

"Now tell me..." Charlie continued, as his hands move up to caress her face "What happened?"

_The End of flashback_

* * *

"Okay, let me just...Oh, Ana, the hair..." Claire murmured, as she was trying to clean Ana's wound "You know, you really are so lucky,that Charlie found you! I mean, what if you'd had to spend the whole night out there in the cold?"

Charlie sat down next to the Latina and smiled at her, but she didn't smile back. Kate was staring at her too, guilt written all over her face.

"Hey, Ana." the brunette called, surprising everybody and Ana glanced at her "Don't worry... Vincent will come back when he's hungry, okay?"

Charlie had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. It was Kate's famous way to apologize. Replacing it with consolations. Ana didn't say anything and gazed at Claire.

"Did you-- did you try the radio?" She asked the blonde and she shook her head.

"It doesn't work."

"But we heard something!" Kate spoke again, obviously trying to make a conversation with her ex-best friend, "Some sort of breathing..."

Charlie let out a heavy sigh and got up, while Claire just rose her eyebrows. Ana, on the other hand, for the first time in a long time actually seemed to be interested in what Kate was saying.

"What breathing?"

"It was weird..." Kate continued "Right, Charlie? I--"

"I'm sure it was just static." He threw in and she glared at him.

"And _I'm_ not. It sounded like a perverted call." Kate said, glancing back at Ana.

"Only _Sawyer_ would get an obscene phone call out here!" Claire announced, throwing her hands up, but she was silenced by some noise, coming out from outside of the trailer, making everybody jump. Ana got up from her spot on the bed and ran over to the counter, grabbed her gun quickly and attempted to go out. Charlie moved to follow her, but she held out her arm to stop him.

"No, no, no. I want you guys to stay here, okay?" She whispered and he furrowed his eyebrows.

"Ana, what--"

"Just stay here." She told them firmly, nodding and then got out of the trailer. The three of them stared after her, dumb-founded.

"What is wrong with her?" Claire asked, looking at Charlie with fear in her blue eyes.

Ana tightened her grip on the gun, as she was slowly walking with her back pressed against the wall of the trailer. She made her way to the end of it and swallowed hard and then quickly bent over and pointed her gun at the darkness. She didn't see, nor hear anything else.

Just as she was about to come back to the trailer, she felt somebody lay their hand on her shoulder from behind and she quickly reacted by elbowing the person in the stomach.

"_Ow _!"

Ana turned around, ready to put up a fight, but she quickly realized it was no one else, but Sawyer, who she had attacked.

"Jesus _Christ_!" the Southerner gasped, rubbing his stomach "What the _hell_ are you doing?"

She stared at him in shock, forgetting about the situation they were in once again. She had other, more important thoughts on her mind right then.

"Could you please stop pointing the bloody gun at me?" He asked her and she put it down immediately "It's just _me_!"

Ana panted and put her trembling hand on her forehead.

"Jesus, Ana!" Sawyer gasped, out of breath.

"Look, man.. I'm sorry, I--" She began, shaking a little.

"You okay?" He asked her, furrowing his eyebrows in concern. Then he noticed the wound on her forehead. He rose his hand and brushed a lock of dark hair that had spilled over her face. "What happened here?"

Ana seemed to be stunned and they stared into each other's eyes.

"Ana, who are you talking to?"

They both stared at Charlie, who has just come out of the trailer.

"Is it Jack?!" Kate called.

"No, it's Sawyer!" the Brit called back, not taking his eyes off of the couple. The Southerner pulled away from Ana and nodded to Charlie.

"Hey, I found this place out here. You wouldn't believe it. It's like the Twilight Zone." Sawyer babbled. There was an uncomfortable silence, until Claire got out of the trailer and a look of relief appeared on her face at the sight of the Southerner.

"Sawyer! God, I was beginning to worry about you!" She breathed and pulled him into a brief hug.  
"No, I'm ok." He responded, surprised. "I found a weird place... There's a huge crater out there. People must use it as a dump site. I've never seen anything like it in my life."

"What have you got here?" Claire asked, nodding towards the stuff he was holding.

"Oh here? Look, it's brand new!" He said proudly, showing her a fishing pole.

"What are we gonna do with a fishing pole in the desert?" the blonde woman chuckled.

"Well, I got here something else, too." He announced and then gave her the teddy-bear he had taken from some car. "It's for Aaron."

Ana rose her eyebrows and Charlie rolled his eyes.

"Aw, that's sweet of you, Sawyer. Thank you!" Claire said, smiling at him.

"I thought you went to go find somebody?" Charlie asked, breaking their little conversation.

"Road dead-ends in five miles." Sawyer replied, glancing at him. "That's where the crater is."

"What are you talking about?" Ana breathed and they all stared at her.

"It's not a shortcut. It's just desert." the blonde man announced and she gaped at him, not knowing what to think.

"It dead-ends?" Claire repeated and Sawyer nodded.

"Dead end."

"I knew that old man was full of shit." Charlie commented, annoyed.

"Yeah... Hope your bro did better." Sawyer said to Claire and she shook her head with a heavy sigh and then walked back into the trailer.

"Maybe we just... missed a turn...." Charlie murmured, trying to stay on the bright side.

"Dude, it's impossible to miss anything out here." Ana spat at him "It's a desert, not freaking _Manhattan_."

The Brit sent her a playful glare and followed Claire. Sawyer and Ana were once again left alone.

"You comin'?" He asked her uncertainly, after a long while of an uncomfortable silence.

"Yeah, in a minute..." She whispered and stared back at the darkness with the gun still in her hand. Sawyer stared at her and almost smiled, as the situation brought a memory back to him.

_

* * *

Flashback_

_Five years ago_

"To da ladies!" Sawyer announced drunkily, holding his beer up. Charlie attempted to do the same, but suddenly frowned and looked at Sawyer blankly.

"We did that already!"

"We-did-da-already?" the Southerner babbled, wearing a shocked expression on his face. Jack nodded slowly, barely keeping his eyes opened. Kate was sleeping on the couch and Claire was curled up beside her, while Ana was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, looking actually more bored than drunk "Well... There's a lot o' ladies in da world, so let's just drink for 'em once more!"

"Salute!" Charlie exclaimed and knocked his beer against Sawyer's. They both drank and for a few more seconds there was a silence.

"Now 's my turn!" the Brit called all of a sudden.

"Bring it on, Munchkin!" Sawyer yelled, making Ana burst out laughing at the nickname. Charlie just ignored them both and held up his beer.

"To the ladies!" He exclaimed and the Southerner agreed with a growl, as he brought the bottle to his lips only to find it empty. "Fuck!"

"Where?!" Charlie shouted, shooting into the sitting position "Where is it?! I can't see!"

"He said '_fuck_'. Not '_duck_'." Ana cleared, realizing Sawyer would never guess what this was about.

"Ahhh, I see..." the Brit mumbled, grinning "Fuck, as in...'_fuck_'?

"As in '_fuck_' coz he's got nothin' to make himself even more drunk than he already is." the Latina said sarcastically.

"Sure thing, Hotlips, but for your information I actually _do_ got somethin' to get wasted even more. Few extra cases in the basement never hurt anyone.. Wanna come with me, Chica?"

"What, you afraid of the darkness, Tex?" She teased him.

"Darkness 's like my best friend, when I got a beautiful lady by my side."

"Yeah, I thought so." She whispered huskily "Sure, whatever. Would hate to see you fall with all those cases."

"Aw, that's sweet, baby. Ya don't wanna see me hurt?" Sawyer cooed. He actually looked gorgeous, doing that.

"No. I don't wanna see all those beers crashing on the floor." Ana objected abruptly, slowly trying to get up "C'mon, man, let's go, shall we?"

"Whatever you say, sweetcheeks... _Ow _!"

Charlie giggled under his breath and tried to muffle it by coveirng his mouth with his hand.

"What was _that _for?!" Sawyer demanded, rubbing his stomach and looking at Ana sharply.

"I'm no _sweetcheeks_ for ya, Cowboy." She explained and he actually smirked at that.

"You the boss here."

"Better remember that one."

After at least ten minutes of colliding with many things on their way, they stopped in front of the door of the basement.

"I'd get here faster with my eyes closed." Ana announced "It's like ten meters away from your room."

"Well, Chica... At least we didn't end up, for example, in the bathroom!" He stated and then opened the door and froze. Ana just stared at him with a 'not a bathroom my ass' look on her face and they gaped at the shower, sink and toilet.

"We must have missed a turn." Sawyer told her seriously and then looked around, as if it was the first time he was there.

"Dude! It's impossible to miss anything out here!" She snapped, tossing dangerously "Since when you consider your small, poor flat to be a Manhattan?"

"_Chill_. Let me think."

"Excuse me!?"

"Shh!"

"Are you_ insane_?!"

Sawyer looked straight at her and scoffed.

"Shh! I said to be_ shh_!"

"Man, you seriously need a map to get to the basement in a flat that has only like... _two_ rooms?!"

"Okay, I know where to go! We're close!" Sawyer yelled out suddenly, totally ignoring her. Ana sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Lead the way." She told him ironically and he turned on his heels and pointed at the opposite door to the bathroom one.

"I shoulda seen it comin'." Ana commented, as he opened the door and they both stepped inside "What, no stairs?"

"No."

"What kind of a basement is that?"

"Well, _actually_ it's a cubby. I just call it basement. Sounds cooler."

She had to stop herself from rolling her eyes again. It seemed it was her favourite thing to do, while she was with him. She was wondering how someone can be so annoying... and so charming at the same time?

She stopped thinking about it, though, as soon as she felt his body making contact with hers. He wanted to make it look like he was just trying to push past her, since the whole cubby thing was very small, but Ana knew better and immediately realized what he was trying to do.

"What d'ya think you doin', man?"

"Am tryin' ta get to da cases, girl, what do you think?"

"Cheap and cheesy."

"Excuse me?"

"The move. It's cheap and cheesy."  
"What move?"

"Since I know you're fuckin' drunk, how's it possible it doesn't surprise me you're actually a totally clueless person, trying to be a smartass?"

"You're not makin' much sense now, hate to break it to ya."

"Yeah? And you're a clueless dork."

"Ouch, Chica."

"And a sexist pig."

"Seriously, stop, you're hurtin' my feelings."

"But I like ya anyway."

"Told you to stop, it's _so_ mean of--..." He paused and then looked at her "What'd ya just say?"

"That you're a sexist pig."

"No, after that."

"That I like you."

He grinned so wide she thought his dimples would wear out.

"Now what makes you say that?"

She snorted and smirked up at him.

"_Beer_, Sawyer."

He grinned even wider and moved closer, placing his hands on her hips. She laughed and quickly shrugged them off.

"I _do_ like you, Sawyer, but you _won't_ get me to sleep with you tonight. I may be drunk, but I'm still _not_ easy."

"I wouldn't have sex with ya even if you wanted."

"Oh_ really_? And why's that?"

"Coz I'm not ineterested in the slutty-type of woman. And you just confirmed me I had a right idea about you."

That made her actually blush. It was nice to hear something like that from him.

"Why you putting your hands all over me then?"

"Was just testing you." He said, smirking.

"Really now? How'd it go?"

Sawyer shook his head with a chuckle and leaned in closer to whisper in her ear:

"You passed."

_The End of flashback_

* * *

"Wait. Ana. Don't close that door." Charlie called, taking Aaron from Claire "We're leaving in a second."

Ana turned around with wide eyes and watched them gathering blankets and pillows.

"What? You guys aren't gonna wait till Jack gets back?" She asked, trying to cover any signs of fear in her voice. Sawyer narrowed his eyes at her.

"No, Ana. We're exhausted. We need to get some sleep." Charlie responded.

"No, no, no. It's fine. It's--" Ana began, coming over to him "You'll be more comfortable here. Look, I'll sleep on the floor, and Sawyer and Kate are gonna be up front and, and--"

Kate furrowed her eyebrows and her eyes locked with Sawyer, who had a similar kind of expression on his own face.

"--and you and Claire can take the back... We got extra sleeping bags, we--"

"Ana, hey, hey, _Ana _!" the Brit tried to calm her down "You got six people sleeping in a three-person trailer... It's not comfortable. It's a little bit weird, okay?"

"But--"

"We comin'?" Claire asked him, cutting her off.

"Yeah."

And with that they both got out of the trailer. Ana ran a hand through her hair and followed them.

"Charlie, hey!" She called, grabbing his arm "Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"What's up?" He asked her with concern. Claire walked away to the car, leaving them alone.

"I, uh--"

"Ana, you sure you're all right? You're pale."

"No, I'm fine! Look, uh..." She began again, squeezing his arm a little bit too hard, making him wince "When I, uh--"

"Ana." Charlie said, grasping her stiff hand and moving it away from his arm.

"No, no, no, it's--" She mumbled, but he interrupted her once more.

"Hey, hey, Ana!" the Brit said louder, placing his hand on her shoulder "I'm sure Jack will be back soon, okay?"

She stared at him long and hard and opened her mouth to say something.

"Ana, _stop. _I know what this is about."

"What?" She asked him and he gave her a 'come on' look.

"You don't wanna sleep in the trailer only with Sawyer and Kate, right?"

"No, Charlie, you got this all wrong, I just--"

"Charlie, you comin'?" Claire called for him.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll be right there!" He called back over his shoulder, before turning back to look at Ana "You can go sleep in the car if you want to. I'll go to the trailer."

"Charlie, this isn't what I'm tryin to--"

"Listen, if Jack's not back by midnight, we'll go look for him." He assured her "Now go get some rest, you're not looking too good." He teased, smirking at her and she rolled her eyes "Deal?"

Ana just sighed heavily and then slowly nodded.

"Deal."

"Come here." He whispered and pulled her into a hug. "It's gonna be ok. Everything's fine." He breathed into her hair. After a few seconds they pulled apart and he pinched her nose playfully. "Go to sleep."

She forced a small smile and let him walk away to the car.

"G'night, Ana!" Claire called, as Charlie approached her. They both looked at her and she waved her hand at them and entered the trailer uncertainly.

"You sure she's gonna be okay?" the blonde asked her husband. He glanced at her and there was a silence for a short while, before he broke into a huge grin.

"Of course. She's Ana, after all, right?"

Claire laughed and opened the door of the car, then got in. Charlie turned his eyes back at the trailer and his grin disappeared.

Was he sure? ... Definitely _not._

_

* * *

Flashback_

_Four months ago_

"I feel sick."

"Tell me 'bout it."

"No, I rel-- real--reel --- feel... _sick_!"

"Then go ta bed, ya got a problem with that?"

"I would!" Claire announced "But I'm lying in a fucking shower and first I gotta figure out how ta get out..."

"Since when do _you_ curse?" Ana asked, as she leaned her head back against a wall, sitting on a bathroom floor with a big, but now empty bottle in her hand.

"Since I'm drunk." the blonde replied simply, sitting up and glancing at the pale Latina. "I'm _fuckin' _drunk."

Ana was staring at her for what seemed like five minutes and then let out a weird sound and covered her mouth with a hand.

"I'm gonna be sick!" the brunette breathed and crawled towards the toilet quickly. Claire grimaced and laid back down with a groan. Ana placed her hands on the lavatory pan, breathing heavily and yet, she felt even worse.

"Okay... Keep it inside... Keep it inside..." She murmured to herself, squeezing her eyes. "Oh my God, I'm gonna throw up!" She screamed with a horrified expression on her face "...No, I ain't gonna throw up..." Ana added after another five seconds and sat back down on the floor "False alarm...The only problem here is my darn headache..."

"No, the problem is_ tequila_." Claire objected, sitting up again and gaping at Ana drunkenly "T-e-q-l--... no 'u' goes first..."

"And when I startin' ta think about the _dick_, then it makes me wanna throw up again..." Ana mumbled, closing her eyes and grabbing her head with both her hands, as if she was afraid it would fall off.

"Ya mean Sawyer?"

"Nah, I mean my _mother_. Of _course_ I mean him!"

"By da way... He called again!" Claire told her angrily "The dick really thinks you're here!"

"Yeah and good for him, coz I _am_ here indeed for the whole goddamn time and you guys hidin' me."

The girls were looking at each other for a minute and then Claire shook her head.

"_Right _!" She gasped, smacking her own forehead, as if she had only just remembered about i.t "What if he comes here to check if you're really here? I mean... if you're really _not_ here?"

"Fuck him....The only thing that really matters to him is... his... stupid boy _penis _!" The Latina exclaimed and just then Charlie entered the bathroom with Jack on his heels. The Brit glanced at his wasted wife and friend and rose his eyebrows.

"Oookay... " the blonde man mumbled, confused.

"I need to get outta here..." Ana murmured quietly and Charlie looked down at her.

"All right then.. Let me help you." He said, attempting to pick her up, but she pushed his hands away.

"No... I mean I have to get out of this house." She stated, trying to focus on her friend's face instead of her memories and her terrible headache.

"You want to move out?" Jack asked with his eyes on Claire.

"Isn't it a _great _idea? You guys have an excuse to get rid of me."

"Don't even think about it." Charlie told her sternly "You ain't goin' anywhere."

"Who the hell do you think you are to tell me what I can or can't do, huh?" She asked him angrily and he gazed down at her softly.

"Your best friend."

She looked up at him and then leaned her head back against the wall, closing her eyes, not knowing what to reply. She was too drunk to come up with something smart enough.

"Sawyer called." Jack said suddenly, making Ana open her eyes again.

"When?"

"Dunno, a minute ago."

"Fucking pig."

"Yeah, I know."

"Look, maybe we should just change the number." Charlie suggested and Ana snorted.

"Yeah, it's a brilliant idea! I've got another one! Let's all move out and buy ourselves an igloo in Greenland." She replied sarcastically and Claire giggled, tossing slightly in the shower "Seriously, it'd be better if I just left."

"Hun, you don't have anywhere else to go." The Brit tried to convince her.

"I'll find myself a new home."

"Ana," Charlie whispered "_This_ is your home now."

She glanced up at him, out of words. Jack smiled a little to himself and moved to take his tooth-brush.

"So from now on... " Charlie continued, as if nothing happened "... we're just gonna have to stop answering his calls. He'll stop..._ eventually_."

"No, he won't." Ana objected "You got no idea how stubborn he is."

"She's right." Jack confirmed, nodding. "He won't stop until he gets what he wants."

"Yeah, that's Sawyer for you." Claire added "That's Sawyer and his stupid boy_ penis _!" She sang, waving her finger. Ana burst out laughing and they all looked at her. She was laughing her ass off for a good minute, before it came to them, that the laughing actually turned into crying.

Jack stared at her with a sad look on his face and Claire popped her head up on her elbow, tears welling up to her eyes at the sight of her friend sobbing. Charlie let out a heavy breath and came over to her.

"Okay... Okay, it's all right..." He whispered, bending over and wrapping his arms around her "It's all right..."

"I hate him... I hate him _so _much!" She cried, burying her face in the crook of his neck.

"I know... I know it, hun." He tried to comfort her, as he picked her up "Come on, let's get you to bed, okay?"

She didn't answer him, just hung her arms loosely around his neck, looking like a doll in his arms.

"You'll take care of Claire?" Charlie asked Jack, hitching Ana higher up, wrapping one of his arm around her waist, as the other one went under the back of her knees.

"Sure, no worries, man." The doctor assured him and came over to his sister. Charlie exited the bathroom with Ana and slowly made his way to her old room. He came over to the bed and carefully laid her down and when he was about to let her go, he felt her hands grab his t-shirt in fists.

"I ain't going anywhere, Lucy." He reassured her and sat down beside her "I'll wait until you fall asleep."

"I don't want you to wait until I fall asleep." She whispered, not letting go of him. "I want you to sleep with me here."

"Just like when we were kids?" He asked, amused and she managed to smile a little.

"Yeah. But I promise I won't take all pillows for myself this time." She assured him and he chuckled.

"Okay then, gimme a little room here, will ya?" Charlie said and she let go of his t-shirt and moved slightly, so he could lay down beside her. He grabbed a duvet and covered them both with it. Ana snuggled closer to him and laid her head on his chest, wrapping her arm around his waist and he wrapped his own around her back.

It was funny how comfortable they were with each other and how there was absolutely _no_ sexual tension between them. They were like brother and sister. And they weren't aftraid that Claire would catch them like that the next morning. Even if she did, they knew she wouldn't mind at all. She was never jealous about Ana because she knew there was no reason. She knew Charlie loved her and she knew that Ana loved him, too. And she was more than fine with this.

"Charlie..." Ana whispered, all of a sudden.

"Thought you were asleep." He murmured in response "What's up?"

"I haven't been completely honest with you lately." She confessed and he could hear the fear in her voice.

"What'cha mean?"

"I should have told you this a long time ago, but I just ... didn't know_ how_..."

"You're scaring me now. You know you can tell me everything."

"I know." She breathed, not having the guts to look up at him "It's about the accident."

"Yeah...?" He said, giving her a sign to continue.  
"A month ago... when I was shot... I lost something."

He frowned, not knowing what to think about it. What was she talking about?"

"Or rather _someone_... We... I mean, me and Sawyer decided not to tell anybody, but I think you have a right to know and I'm sorry I'm telling you this so late."

"It's ok, I understand. Now get to the point, you're seriously scaring me."

"I was pregnant." She choked out and he knew she had her eyes full of tears without even looking at her. She didn't have to explain this further to him. He already knew what she meant. And God, all he wanted to do was to take the pain away from her. She didn't deserve this. None of it.

So he hugged her tighter, as she let out a quiet sob.

"I'm so sorry for the way I was acting!" Ana cried out "But it was so hard for me to get over it... I'm_ still _not over it."

"Oh God..." Charlie whispered, squeezing his eyes tight shut and stroking her back, "I'm _**so**_ sorry, Ana."

He didn't know what else he could say to make her feel better. And he also didn't know that he already made her feel one thousand times better. Just because he was lying there with her. Just because he was talking to her. Just because he made her think that somebody in this world actually cared about her.

"I love you, Charlie." She said suddenly and he smiled and kissed her hair.

"I love you, too."

_The End of flashback_

* * *

Ana was sitting on the floor with her back against the wall and a flashlight in her hand. She kept on switching it off and on.

Sawyer was sleeping on the couch with his mouth wide opened and Ana had to stop herself from smiling at the familiar sight. Kate was sleeping on the bed in the back.

Ana was breathing heavily and unsteadily, her legs shaking nervously. She glanced at the clock. It was ten to midnight.

Suddenly she heard a barking from outside of the trailer. She looked up at the window and felt her stomach drop.

"Vincent!" She gasped and then got up, quickly grabbing her gun from the counter and exiting the trailer.

She marched into the darkness, panting and looking around, although it wasn't like she could actually notice anything.

"Vincent!" She called, hoping to see a gold Labrador running out from the shadows "Vincent!"

She stopped at the sound of rustling and tossing and she stared at the bushes that were in front of her.

"Vin--" Her voice froze in the middle of the word, as she heard the barking again and the sound of cold laughter from a man, not too far away from her. She held her gun tighter and attempted to keep on walking to get to the someone, but she thought about her sleeping, unaware and helpless friends and quickly changed her mind and took off, running back to the trailer as fast as she could.

**

* * *

A/N: **Thank you for your reviews and I'm sorry for the long wait. Lack of inspiration, sorry. Hope you liked the chapter!

Oh and yeah, I took some lines from Grey's. Don't own anything either way. Hey, that rhymes! :P A little, lol.

In the next chapter, the _drama_ begins! XD


	5. The nightmare begins

**Wickedgal08: **":D its an enormous honour beta-ing ur work, i hope you know that :D this is extremely well written and I love where this going and i LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE the chana bed bit SQUE i swear you know me so well its like we're sisters!! :DD" .! Glad you like the Chana parts! :DD Those are only for ya, girl! I know you, don't I? :DD Well, high five then, sister, coz you know me, too, ha! XD Thank you very much, hun!

"*holds ana/michelle hostage* lol" :O ... Oh NO! That's below the belt, keep the gloves up, lol! XD

**Renata Holloway:** "Excellent chapter as always. I love Charlie and Ana interaction in this chapter." Thank you! It's great you like Chana!

**Allie:** "yay another great chapter and can not wait for more and i know its not realy supposed to be funny but ana and clair drunk makes a funny pictuer in my head" Thank you! Lol, no worries, I was laughing my ass off when I was writing that part with Cana. ;) The flashbacks are supposed to lighten up the mood. XD

**Ada23Mon:** "He he to mnie uspokoiłaś:D jak zwykle świetny chapter:P masz naprawdę talent, trzymaj tak dalej:D:D:D czekam na kolejną część z niecierpliwością:):):)" No to ok. ;) Dziękuję Ci bardzo! :D Nie spodziewałam się nigdy otrzymać polskich komentarzy do moich historii, także bardzo mi miło. :D

**suze:** "oh geez, the drama begins. I was under the impression it had started already, silly me." Lmao. XD It depends on what you consider a drama, I guess. ;)

"i can't wait to see what happens next!! great job!!" Thank you! :D

**

* * *

*** Warning: **Some gross parts, that can affect some people bad are coming up. **Two deaths** in this chapter. Can't handle it? Don't read. Simple, right? :)

**

* * *

Chapter 5: "The nightmare begins"**

"Okay, get together, get together!"

"Oh come on! Hurry up! We're late already!"

"Okay, just stand together, will ya?!"

"Claire!"

"Charlie. Is it really so much to ask?"

"C'mon, let's just get over it!" Ana groaned and grabbed Charlie's arm, dragging him behind her to Jack, Kate and Sawyer.

"Okay!" Claire exclaimed happily, as she stood with a camera in her hands "Kate, stand closer to Charlie. You gotta squeeze or I ain't gonna catch you all!"

Kate stepped closer to the Brit and he dropped his arm over her shoulders.

"Ana, you have to move closer to Sawyer."

"No!" the Latina protested.

"Come on!"

"I an't coming over to the pervert!"

"Ey, sweetcheeks, that wasn't nice!" the blonde man blurted out, sending her a glare.

"Ana, it's just for a sec, c'mon!" Claire tried to convince her.

"Fine!" Ana yelled and came over to Sawyer who grinned at her mischieviously "Keep your hands to yourself, Cowboy." She warned him and he held them up in mock surrender.

In the end, Charlie had his arm around Kate's shoulders, Jack was standing behind them and Sawyer and Ana were beside him.

"Could you at least smile, people?" Claire asked and they all forced smirks "Okay, one, two--"

Just then Sawyer wrapped his arms around Ana's waist.

"--three! Awesome!"

Ana turned around and smacked his head hard.

"What did I tell you?!"

"Hey, guys, you need to take a look at it!" Claire called them "It's a miracle to have you all pose for a picture at 7 a.m. on sunday morning, seriously..."

They all came over to her and she showed them the picture.

"Nice." Kate commented and Jack agreed with her, nodding.

"Whoa, look at Ana!" Charlie laughed.

"What?" the Latina spat. She glanced at the picture and her eyes widened. Kate, Charlie and Jack were all smiley and stuff and she had a very weird, unhappy and annoyed expression on her face, while Sawyer was grinning widely with his arms around her waist "Great." she snapped and glanced at Sawyer "Thanks a lot... Moron."

"What? I think you look cute!" the Southerner tried to defend himself. Charlie burst out laughing and Ana sent him a dead glare. He immediately stopped smiling and cleared his throat.

"Time to go, everybody!" the Brit called "Beach is waiting!"

_The End of flashback_

* * *

Kate and Sawyer didn't hear Ana exit the trailer. They were still sleeping peacefully, not aware that something was wrong. Kate had headphones in her ears. She was used to falling asleep with music, so it couldn't wake her. So she didn't hear the sounds of footsteps, approaching her. And she didn't notice that a light was switched on. But she felt a hand, stroking a side of her head, brushing a lock of her dark hair out of her face. She smiled through her sleep, thinking it was Jack, happy that he came back and was safe by her side again. She leaned into the touch and slowly opened her eyes.

"Oh my--" she began to yell, as she realized it wasn't Jack, but she was quickly silenced as a big palm covered her mouth and a stinky, disgusting man was howering above her. He was almost bald and had a mutated, pale face. His eyes were small and his mouth was opened, as he was smirking down at her, showing off his filthy teeth.

Kate screamed into his hand, but her yells were muffled and Sawyer never heard her.

* * *

Ana sprinted to the car and almost collided with the door, hitting the glass to wake a sleeping Charlie and Claire.

"Hey! Guys!" She shouted "Guys!"

"Oh good God..." Ana heard Charlie groan, before he sat up and rolled down the window "Jesus, Ana!"

"What is it?" Claire asked, sitting up, too and looking at her with worried expression on her face.

"Guys, something...something's going on around here, okay?" the Latina announced, staring at them both with watered eyes and flushed cheeks.

"What?"

"There-...There are, like, people or something living in those hills." Ana stated, her voice was shaking "I don't know who, but--"

"People? Geez, Ana, listen to me--," Charlie began, but she just shook her head.

"No, no, no, Charlie... there are-"

"Ana," he tried again, but it was pointless.

"Charlie, please!"

"Just listen to me!" the Brit said louder, as Claire threw him a scared look "We're in the middle of nowhere, okay? Nobody lives in those hills,"

"I saw a dead dog." Ana confessed and they gaped at her with widened eyes.

"A dead dog?"

"Yeah, but it's not just that... that he was dead, but..." She paused and took a deep breath "It looked like somebody cut him open, you know?"

"Cut him open?" Charlie repeated quietly and Claire put her hand on his shoulder in fear.

"Yeah, and I-I didn't want to say anything, because I didn't want to scare everyone..." Ana continued, running a trembling hand through her hair "But I'm telling you, there is something going on, okay? And Jack, Jack's not even back yet!"

Charlie closed his eyes and then nodded slowly.

"Okay." He said, moving to get out of the car "All right. Stay right there. I'll come check this out."

Ana glanced at a frightened Claire and swallowed hard.

"We're not alone here..." the brunette murmured and just then Charlie grabbed her arm gently, leading her away.

"Claire!" he called over his shoulder "You stay here, you lock the car, okay?"

The blonde woman didn't even nod, too scared to move or say anything.

"Calm down, girl... We're gonna check this out...Now where did you see this?" Charlie asked, as they were walking to the trailer. Ana didn't even manage to utter another word, as they heard a terrible yell and a sudden light made them turn around on their heels.

There was a man. Far away. That man was yelling in agony, as he was obviously tied up to a tree or something and he was on fire. And that man looked very similar to--

"JACK!" Ana yelled and took off, running as fast as she could to get to her friend. Charlie was just standing in shock for a few seconds and then he heard somebody coming out of the trailer. He glanced at a stunned Sawyer and then didn't think twice and followed Ana quickly. The Southerner was standing still, for a short while not even aware of Claire's presence. The blonde woman stared at him in shock and then her eyes found the source of light and she felt dry.

"Jack..." She gasped and attempted to run over there, but was stopped by Sawyer.

"Wait, you can't go there! We don't know what this is--"

"It's JACK!" She yelled and managed to release herself from his grasp, then quickly ran off "Jack!"

Sawyer ran a hand through his hair, panting and then quickly entered the trailer and ran over to the counter. He opened its door quickly and took out a fire-extinguisher.

"Kate! You watch the baby!" He called, as he ran out of the trailer, not even looking back and not realizing that Kate couldn't even answer him.

_

* * *

Flashback_

_About two years ago_

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Claire, look into me eyes. Are you **absolutely** sure?"

"Ana, it's red or blue. It's kinda hard to be wrong here."

".**GOD**."

"Yeah, I know."

"Congratulations!" the Latina exclaimed, as she pulled her friend into a hug "Jesus, I'm so happy for you! For** both **of you!"

"Thank you." Claire replied quietly. Ana pulled back and narrowed her eyes at her.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, it's just... Charlie doesn't know yet," the blonde woman explained slowly "And I don't know how he's gonna react and--"

"Claire, he'll be the happiest guy in the world when he finds out!" Ana said, girnning "Trust me, I know him! He loves you very much and I'm sure he'll be a great dad!"

The blonde smiled uncertainly and nodded slowly. They were together for almost two years by now, but they never really talked about having a baby or getting married. They were just together. They lived together. They loved each other. That was just them. Charlie and Claire. Just like Ana and Sawyer. It just felt good to be still independent. They were like high school couples.

"We never even mentioned kids... I'm just scared, I'm **scared**. Ana, tell me what to do, please!" Claire begged her and Ana Lucia shook her head and put her hands on Claire's arms.

"I know Charlie almost better than I know myself," She announced, gazing into the blue, scared eyes "Trust me, girl. He'll be in the seventh heaven, I'm telling you!"

"What would you do if you were me? What would you do if** you **were pregnant with Sawyer?" Claire asked, expecting an honest answer from her friend. Ana was wondering for a few seconds and then smirked.

"I don't see Sawyer as a dad, at least not just now... But I know I would tell him right away. I wouldn't wait. But Claire, Sawyer and Charlie are so different! They are so not to be compared! I'm not saying that Sawyer wouldn't be a good father, but I just don't know him as well as I know Charlie. And for all I know about him, he has yet to let somebody down. And it definitely won't be his first time. When we were kids, we were always talking about us having families one day. I bet my freaking ass, that he wants this baby as much as he possibly can."

Claire nodded once again and looked down, breathing deeply and thinking. She knew Charlie loved her. And she loved him, too. But this was so unexpected... She had no idea how he was going to react on the news. Well, it seemed she had to trust Ana on the matter. Ana was like his twin sister. She could tell when he was nervous, scared or ill. Claire knew there was nobody else in this world who got to know him as well as Ana.

"Okay, so... what am I supposed to do now?"

The Latina rolled her eyes with a crazy grin on her face and grabbed a cell phone from the counter next to them.

"**Call** him, you dumbass!" She teased and Claire scoffed at the last part "Call him and tell him he's going to be a fucking dad!"

So she did. Just as she was told to.

_The End of flashback_

* * *

It was a mess. Nobody knew what was going on.

Charlie and Ana were yelling. Claire was crying. Sawyer was trying to help.

It was just too unbelieveable for them. They were all horrified.

They wanted it to be just the nightmare. Just a terrible, sick nightmare. Everyting was going to be okay. They were safe in California. Sawyer and Ana made up. Charlie and Claire were both happy for them with little Aaron in their arms. Kate was Ana's best friend again. Jack was in his doctor mood, asking if they all felt all right after such a long trip...

But it wasn't a nightmare. It was **real**. They weren't in California. Instead, they were watching Jack die, knowing there was nothing they could do to save him. They had to watch him yell in pain and there was **absolutely nothing** they could do.

Charlie fell to his knees, holding his head in his hands, his face wet from fresh tears that had marked his cheeks. Sawyer was holding up the fire-extinguisher, trying to save his best friend's life. Jack was like his brother. He was like his family, although he annoyed the crap out of him sometimes. He had to do something to save him. Just like the doctor was always trying to save everybody else.

"Do something!" Claire yelled out through her sobs suddenly, running over to Sawyer and hitting him on his back and arms "Do **something**!" She cried, almost making him drop the fire-extinguisher. He tried to push her away with his elbow, but she was still slapping him everywhere she could, too shocked to realize she was actually stopping him from helping Jack.

"Ana!" the Southerner shouted, struggling. "**ANA**! Get Claire out of here, get her out of here!"

"Sawyer!" Claire cried, hitting him harder "It's not my Jack! It's _not_ Jack!"

Ana glanced at Charlie with widened eyes and then threw her gun to him. He didn't even try to catch it, just let it fall down on the ground in front of him.

"I-it--'s n-**not** Ja-ack!" the blonde woman screamed, choking with tears and barely getting the words out straight "Jaaack!"

"No, come on, Claire, let's go!" Ana gasped out, coming over and grabbing Claire by her arms, dragging her away. After a few seconds they stopped at the sound of yells and cruel laughs coming from the trailer "What was that?"  
Claire looked at with horror in her blood-shot eyes and squeezed her hands in fear.

"**God**... Claire, just stay here, okay?" the Latina told her softly and ran away, leaving a sobbing and shaking Claire behind. Ana quickly made her way to the trailer and entered it, gasping at the sight. There were two men inside. One was holding a crying Kate on the bed and one was standing with Aaron in his arms. Both of them were smelly and purely disgusting. The first one was bigger and was bald. His eyes were small and his open mouth gave Ana a full view of his filthy teeth. The other one with the baby was thinner, but even more disgusting then his buddy. He had a straw hat on his head, his forehead was covered by his dirty hair and he had a lot of scars and cuts on his face.

"Help, help..." Kate cried out, bringing Ana back to reality. The man in a hat sized her up hungrily and began to rock crying Aaron in his arms.

"Oh, you fat..." He said in a husky voice, staring down at the baby "Oh, big fat... and _juicy_..." He added, turning his gaze back up at Ana. She stared at him with widened eyes and then spotted a pan on the counter. She quickly grabbed it and hit his head with it. He yelped in pain and fell on the floor, leaving Aaron in result. Ana rose her arm to hit him again, but he was faster and grabbed it, pulling it hard behind her, making her scream in pain. He let out some weird sound, like a furious lion and took out a gun and then pointed it at a still whining Aaron on the floor. Ana gasped, out of breath and he glanced at her with a sick smile on his face.

Like he was _enjoying_ it...

"No..." She breathed, shivering "No, **please**!"

She had no other choice. She needed to beg him to save Aaron. She wasn't the aim right then. If she was, she wouldn't be pleading. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction. But he was pointing a gun at Aaron. She couldn't let him shoot him. She couldn't watch as another innocent child's life was about to be taken away.

The man held up his other hand, as if to calm her down, while the other one was still holding a gun. Ana grimaced as he touched her shoulder and attempted to rip her blouse. Kate cried out harder, struggling. The man bent down a little to Ana's breasts and just then Claire entered the trailer with a big stone in her hands. She stiffened at the sight, shocked, as she looked at kneeling Ana, crying Kate and Aaron on the floor.

She raised the stone and prepared to throw it on the guy who was bending over Ana, but the other one noticed her and yelled out, what alarmed his friend and he quickly moved away from Ana and pointed the gun at the blonde.

There was a shot and Claire dropped the stone and fell back on the bed.

Outside of the trailer, Sawyer picked his head up from Jack's body and Charlie stopped dead in his tracks.

"Claaire!!" Kate cried out, keep trying to release form the man's grip. Ana quickly lay down on the floor and covered Aaron. She spotted a screwdriver and reached for it, breathing heavily.

"They're in the trailer!" Charlie yelled in agony and sprinted towards it. Sawyer was still for a few more seconds and then he got up and ran after Charlie.

In the meanwhile, the man who shot Claire obviously decided the party was over, so he pointed his gun at whining Kate and prepared to shoot. However before he could do so, Ana quickly knelt down and thrust the screwdriver into his leg. He screamed out and lowered his gun a little. Ana used the occasion to get up and grabbed his arm, hitching it up, so that gun was pointed at the celing instead. He began to shoot uncontrollably, as he tried to push Ana away. He finally did and she fell on the floor. The man pointed the gun on her, his whole body was shaking. He clenched his jaw hard and everything seemed to stop for a second. Ana froze, as she felt the cold gun making contact with her forehead. Kate yelled and then the man pulled the trigger.

The Latina closed her eyes, but didn't feel, nor hear anything. There was just an empty 'click'. Ana opened her eyes and looked up. He was out of bullets. She moved to get up, but he was quicker and hit her head with the gun hard. She yelped and then her body went limp, as she fell on the floor, losing consciousness.

After another minute, the bald man was already out of the trailer, running away with crying Aaron in his arms. The other one was trying to drag Kate with him, but she was doing everything to tear herself free.

"Come on! Get out the door!" He shouted at her.

"Kate!" Charlie yelled, as soon as he was close enough to see what was going on.

"Help!" She yelled back "Help me, **help**!"

"Come on now. Look at me..." the man said, putting the gun close to her face. Kate gasped and immediately stopped struggling "That's it, **look **at me."

"Kate!!" Sawyer shouted this time, nearing the trailer.

"Shit!" the guy swore and let go of Kate, pushing her away. She fell on the ground and he bent over to whisper: "I'll come back for ya."

With that he ran away, following his friend.

"Bitch stuck me like a pig!" He yelled to the other one, hobbling and they both sprinted away. Charlie and Sawyer made their way to the trailer and the Southerner stopped to shoot at the laughing figures, disappearing in the darkness. Charlie glanced at Kate, who was sitting on the ground, sobbing, and then quickly entered the trailer. Sawyer lowered his gun and ran over to Kate.

"You okay?" He breathed, pulling her up and she let out a series of sharp sobs, choking.

In the meanwhile Charlie noticed Ana on the floor and he felt a sudden pain in his chest at the sight and ran to her side.

"Ana..." He whispered, kneeling down beside her "Ana, can you hear me?...Come on..." He murmured, placing his hands on both her cheeks. After a short while she moaned quietly and moved a little "Geez, Ana, you all right?!"

She didn't open her eyes, just squeezed them harder in pain and murmured something.

"What?" Charlie asked, bending over to hear her better.

"Cl..Cla...Clai... Cla-aire!" She cried out breathlessly, barely getting the words out. He frowned and then looked around. His stomach sank, as he spotted shaking Claire on the bed. Her white t-shirt was covered in blood on the front, but apparently she was still alive.

* * *

Up on a near hill, there was a filthy looking man, sitting with binoculars in his pale hands. He was watching the trailer, breathing huskily.

Suddenly there was a rustle behind him and he turned around quickly. He didn't notice anything or anyone. Narrowing his eyes, he slowly turned around and picked the binoculars back up to his eyes, so he could continue observing the trailer.

It was just a question of a second or two and he was thrown off of his sitting position as a big, golden Labrador attacked him. The man yelled in pain, as the dog got access to his neck.

_

* * *

Flashback_

_About two years ago_

_"__**Call**__ him, you dumbass!" Ana teased and Claire scoffed at the last part "Call him and tell him he's going to be a fucking dad!"_

_So she did. Just as she was told to._

Long, steady signals were echoing in her ears as she was trying to get through to Charlie. He didn't answer his phone, though.

"There! It's a sign!" Claire announced, glancing at Ana and making a resigned face "Told you! He doesn't want to have a baby!"

Before the Latina could utter any word, there was a knock. Claire jumped up a little and put her cell phone down on the counter quickly.

"It's Sawyer." Ana muttered, rolling her eyes at her friend's behavior. She left her, standing with widened eyes in the kitchen and came over to the door to open them.

"You forgot your keys again, Cowboy?" She asked, smirking at Sawyer. Only... it _wasn't_ Sawyer "Oh," Ana breathed and quickly glanced over her shoulder "Hi..."

"Hey,"Charlie replied "Is Claire here?"

"Uh... no," Ana whispered slowly, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Why are you lying?" he laughed, coming in and pushing past her with a smirk. _Damn it_. Why did she even bother? He always knew when she was lying "Clairey, barey! Here comes your prince charming with two extra tickets on the comedy you wanted to see so much!" He called out, as he entered the kitchen. Claire was standing still in the same spot and her eyes widened even more at the sight of him. Ana came in right after him and looked at Claire apologetically.

"Hey, sweetcheeks! Why'd you leave the door opened?" They heard Sawyer yell "I swear to God, somebody's gonna come here one day and kidnap you and I ain't no Batman to--" he stopped, when he made his way to the kitchen and noticed dumb-founded Ana, surprised Charlie and shocked Claire.

"Someone died?" the Southerner asked and Ana smacked his shoulder "**Ow**, _what_?"

"Wanna take me out tonight?" she asked him quickly and he frowned.

"Do I _what_?"

"C'mon, let's get a room!" Ana exclaimed, taking his arm and dragging him with her.

"Okay! Got no problem with that!" Sawyer agreed, grinning wide, as he let her take him out of their kitchen. Charlie stared after them with furrowed eyebrows and when he heard the sound of the closing door, he turned to look back at Claire.

"What's wrong, hun? You not feeling well?" he questioned her softly and came over to his stiffened girlfriend. He placed his hands on both her cheeks, gazing into her eyes with concern "Claire?"

"I'm pregnant!" she yelled all of a sudden, instead of answering him. His eyes widened in shock, as he pulled away from her and just then she thought this was it. He was going to leave her. He was fine with her, when it was just them, but now... he didn't want to have a family with her. He didn't want a baby. Why did she trust Ana? She should have known how he was going to react on this... This was it. She knew it.

And when he opened his mouth, she was ready to hear something like 'we're done' or 'I'm sorry, I can't be a dad' or something like that.

What she **wasn't **expecting? ... _Well--_

"Will you marry me?"

_The End of flashback_

* * *

Charlie was numb and shocked, as he slowly got up and walked over to the bed.

"Claire..." He gasped out, sitting beside her "Claire!" He cried out, desperately grabbing her hand. Just then Sawyer entered, dragging Kate by the arm behind him. He froze at the sight of Claire and then his eyes found Ana, who was still lying on the ground. He let go of Kate and came over to her slowly. He knelt down and put his trembling hand on her sore forehead.

"Ana..." He whispered and shook her arm a little "Ana, wake up..." He tried again, louder this time. She grimaced and then opened her eyes, staring up at him with confusion "You all right?" Sawyer asked her softly and responded with another gimace. The Southerner slowly wrapped his arms around her waist and helped her sit up.

Kate was already curled up in a ball on the bed. She was hugging a pillow to her chest and was trying to muffle her sobs. Charlie was still by Claire's side, squeezing her hand and looking at her blankly with bloodshot eyes. Sawyer swallowed hard and then turned his gaze at Ana.

"You wait here, okay?"

She looked at him and nodded. He got up and grabbed a blanket, that was on the bed, then quickly came over to Claire. He put the blanket down on her stomach and she moaned in pain.

"I'm sorry, Claire." Sawyer gasped "We need to stop the bleeding... We just need to stop it and then everything will be just fine.. You're gonna be all right, I promise!" He comforted her, as she began to shiver again.

Nobody seemed to believe in it. There was nothing they could have done about it. This was it.

Sawyer stared at pale Charlie and just from one look he could tell the Brit knew it was over.

"Just hold it here, okay?" the Southerner told him and he didn't say anything. He just replaced Sawyer's hand with his own, as he continued to stare at his dying wife.

Sawyer came over to Ana and bent over.

"Come on, get up..." He whispered to her "Come on..." She let him grab her around her waist and he pulled her up. He led her to the bed and she sat down next to Claire, staring at her with tears in her black eyes. Sawyer sat down beside her, not daring to look at the blonde himself. She was like his sister. And Jack was like his brother. He spent his whole life with them. Jack was already gone. And what Claire was going to die now, too? Just like that? Just because they trusted some guy and took his shortcut? He lost his best friend already. And now he was going to lose his sister, too? Yes. And there was absolutely nothng he could do. He was helpless. He never felt more useless in his whole life.

"This trailer is so small..." Claire rasped all of a sudden, shaking her head "I clean and clean... It's still a mess..."

Kate's sobs became louder. Sawyer closed his eyes and got up, placing his hand on the back of his neck.

"It's still.. a m-mess.."

"Shh..." Charlie whispered, rubbing Claire's forehead.

"Is Jack home?" She asked, looking up at her husband. He swallowed hard and then shook his head.

"No... Not yet."

"Every- everybody went to bed?" She questioned, barely getting the words out straight, as more tears welled up in her eyes "Y-yeah?"

"Yeah." Charlie confirmed softly "Kate and Ana are right here and Sawyer's in the back..."

"Is...Aaron sleeping?" Claire asked in a husky voice and Charlie stiffened. "Hmm?"

"Yeah.." the Brit said and smiled down at her.

"You need anything?" Sawyer managed to murmur a question, as he finally found the courage to look at Claire again.

"B...blanket..." She gasped out, as tears marked her cheeks "I'm cold."

Sawyer came over to the bed and reached behind stiffened Ana and grabbed another blanket, then covered Claire with it.

"It'll warm you up..." He whispered, rubbing her shoulders through the material.

"You're so sweet, Sawyer." the blonde girl said, sending him a small, weak smile "Now I know why she still loves you that... much..."

He froze for a second, but there was no time to feel awkward, because Claire began to let out heavy breaths and Charlie stared at her in horror, as she squeezed his hand hard and then her body relaxed and she closed her eyes. Ana gaped at her with her own eyes widened and Sawyer looked away, clenching his jaw hard and gritting his teeth in anger. Kate cried out and buried her face in the pillow she was holding, rocking herself back and forth.

"I'm not gonna take this shit!" Charlie gasped out and got out of the bed, grabbing a gun from the counter and attempting to leave the trailer.

"Hey, we're not going anywhere..." Sawyer objected and caught him by the collar of his shirt, then held him to the wall. "We're not going **anywhere**!"

"Get the fuck off of me!" Charlie yelled, struggling.

"You wanna die?!"

"I don't** fucking **care!"The Brit cried out. Ana got up from the bed and came over to them.

"You wanna die, too?!" Sawyer shouted "Look what they did to Jack and Claire! You stop and think! You're not a fucking child anymore! You won't make it three feet out there!" He screamed and then let go of him "We need a plan.. We need to think..."

"Think about what?!" Charlie shouted, pushing him "Think about _what_?! They have Aaron! They have my son and you want me to just sit here and do nothing?! That's 'cause you're a fucking pussy!

"Shut the fuck up. You shut up! Shut your mouth!" Sawyer yelled and forced him against the wall again.

"Stop!" Ana shouted and grabbed Sawyer's arm to make him let go of Charlie.

"Fuck you." Charlie said through gritted teeth and the Souther didn't manage to respond, because suddenly they heard some voice outside of the trailer.

"No!" Kate cried out loud. Ana quickly switched the lights off and Sawyer released Charlie and all of them gaped at the door.

"Turn the lights on... turn the lights on... turn the lights on..." Kate babbled, shaking. "He said he's coming back!"

"Shh!" Ana told her sharply. "Quiet!"

"He said he's coming back for me!" Kate continued to cry in fear. "Please! It's them, it's them, it's **them**!"

Ana was standing between Sawyer and Charlie and they all looked at each other, before Ana took the gun from Charlie and pointed it at the door.

"_Goggle_?" A voice rang out again "_Goggle_?"

She shot. Once. Twice. Three times.

There was silence again.

Ana glanced at Sawyer and they locked eyes. He shook his head and came over to the door. He slowly bent over a little to be able to see something through the holes that bullets from Ana's gun left in the door.

He didn't see anything but the campfire. He stood up and looked at Ana again, then slowly opened the door, expecting to face one of those people again.

But nobody was there.

Ana moved to get out first, but he grabbed her arm and shook his head firmly, letting her know she wouldn't be the first one to go outside. She was both touched and annoyed by this, but decided to just do as she was told and stay put. At least for now.

So Sawyer clenched his jaw hard and slowly stepped outside of the trailer, feeling cool wind on his face. Ana and Charlie were standing in the doorway, stiffened.

The Southerner looked around, searching for any signs of those attackers.  
"_Goggle?" _the same, husky voice rang out again._ "You copy, Goggle? __**Where's **__Goggle!?_"

He turned on his heels, looking for the source of the sound and then it came to him the voice was actually coming out of a walkie-talkie, that was lying on a ground, near the campfire. He slowly came over to take a better look at it and then knelt down.

"_He stayed back there. He's keeping an eye on them_." A different, stronger voice replied.

"_I told you_..."

"_What?_"

"_I told you, you've gotta kill them __**all**_!"

Sawyer picked it up quickly and felt it was wet. It was wet from blood.

There was a rustle and he turned his head to look at Ana and Charlie, who were frozen, still in the doorway. Sawyer noticed a shadow of something under the trailer and then glanced up at Ana and nodded.

She pointed the gun down at the floor and began to shoot, until they heard a barking and Vincent ran off from under the trailer.

"Vincent!" the Southerner breathed, as the dog ran over to him. Ana's eyes widened in surprise. She gasped and quickly made her way to Sawyer and fell to her knees beside him. Soon Charlie followed her.

"Oh my God, _Vincent_!" Ana rasped with tears of joy in her eyes, as she was stroking her dog's ears and he was licking her face in response. "You're alive!"

"Good boy!" Sawyer said, patting his head. "Good boy!"

"_Jupiter's going to finish them off_." the man spoke again and Ana and Sawyer looked down at the walkie-talkie he was holding. Before they could say something, Charlie quickly took it from Sawyer.

"Why are you doing this to us?" the Brit asked, putting it close to his mouth "_Why_ are you doing this?! You hear me?!"

Nobody answered him. Ana and Sawyer stared up at Charlie with glistening eyes and hearts in their throats.

"What the **fuck **do you want?!" Charlie yelled, losing his patience and giving in into the desperation and pain he was feeling "_What_ do you **WANT**?!"

Nothing. Dead silence...

"Give me back my baby..." he pleaded, fighting his tears. And then they heard a crying. The weeping... of a child.

Charlie dropped the walkie-talkie and it landed on the ground with a thud.

Sawyer swallowed hard and then glanced at Ana, who was gaping at Charlie, speechless.

"Ana..."

She turned her head to look at him.

"Hmm?"  
"How many bullets do you have left?" the Southerner asked, slowly getting up.

"A clip and a half." she answered him, picking herself up too and gazing into his teary eyes. She could tell just from one look at him, that he was thinking hard about something. He must have figured out a plan "What are we doing?"

**

* * *

A/N: **Hope you enjoyed. ;)


	6. The worst pain of all

**Chapter 6: "The worst pain of all"**

There are three kinds of pain that people feel.

The first one can be healed by a kiss from your mother. It disappears as quickly as it appears and you forget about it just as fast.

The second one can be turn into a joke, when you, for example, accidentally walk into a lamp-post or harm yourself in any other way possible, making people around you laugh. And, usually, it makes you laugh too, although it hurts. But you also quickly forget about it.

And the last one. That kind of pain can't be healed by any kiss and it can't be turn into a joke. That pain is incurable. It penetrates deep into your heart, mind and soul and it doesn't let go. Never.

And it's the pain of losing somebody, somebody that you loved and cared about. It makes you feel helpless, guilty and sick. And no matter how many years pass by, you will never stop feeling it. It will never let you forget...

"Ana?"

She didn't answer. She was just staring at the wall, her face pale, her eyes blood-shot. She couldn't fall asleep for the entire night and nobody really blamed her. Kate spent it sobbing into her pillow. Charlie curled up into a ball in the corner, staring at Claire's body and Sawyer... Sawyer had been standing for the whole time and staring at the window until sunrise.

Now Ana was sitting on the bed, right next to Claire's body, which they had covered with a dark blanket.

"Ana," Sawyer tried once again, approaching her "Look at me,"

"She was my best friend during the last months." she finally spoke, as she grabbed a hem of the blanket and slowly pulled it off a little, so that she could see Claire's face "She was a great mother, a perfect wife...a true angel... Why her, Sawyer?" Ana whispered, feeling tears in her eyes yet again "Why not me?"

He didn't know what kind of reply he should come up with. He knew Ana would blame herself for Claire's death, even though everybody knew it wasn't her fault at all.

"You need to change your clothes," Sawyer stated, deciding to change the subject. He didn't feel strong enough to talk about what happened. Ana just glanced down at her sweater, which was dirty and blood-stained. He was waiting for her to move, but it seemed she wasn't going to do it anytime soon. So he came over to her bag and took a black tank top out of it, then walked over to Ana again.

"Hands up," he told her and she didn't protest, only rose her arms, letting him take off her sweater. He tossed it aside and then slipped the top over her head. She lowered her arms, but he wasn't about to let go of her, instead he took her hands in his and knelt down in front of her.

"You can still change your mind, Chica," Sawyer said and she just shook her head, not looking at him at all "I think it'd be better if you stayed here with Charlie and Kate, they need ya--"

"I'm comin' with you." Ana interrupted him sternly and eventually stared straight into his eyes, eyes that were full of pain and sorrow "Those mother fuckers killed Jack and Claire. They kidnapped Aaron. I am not letting them get away with this." she announced in an angry voice, feeling her blood boil at the thought of those two men, who took the lives of her two friends and Aaron away. There was no way she was going to stay in the trailer and let him go out there alone, probably only to get killed, too.

"Besides, I'm a better fighter," she added after a while and it amused him that she seemed to be really serious about it. He could only send her a small, weak and sad smile.

"I won't let anything happen to you, I promise." he vowed and she gaped at him, as if she wanted to say she could take care of herself, but still what he said had made her feel better. Although he probably wasn't even able to keep that promise. Those people... animals, whoever they were had no normal feelings. Ana could see the satisfaction in their eyes when Claire was shot. It almost looked as if killing was their fucking hobby. And she didn't know whether she should stand up and fight or sit down and puke.

Ana didn't even realize that Sawyer was gone, until she saw Kate enter the trailer hesitantly.

"Hey," the brunette said softly and Ana looked up at her, noticing the state she was in. Her hair was a mess, her cheeks were flushed and wet, but fresh tears were still fighting to fall down. She had a big bruise on her cheek. She probably got it from one of those men, while she was struggling.

"Sawyer's ready, he's just waiting for you." Kate told her and then her gaze fell on Claire. Her jaw clenched, as she was trying to stop herself from crying. Ana glanced at the blonde woman for the last time and then covered her face with the blanket once again, before getting up and turning to look at Kate.

"I'll be right out." The Latina stated and grabbed a first aid kit from a counter "You guys have one in the car, no worries, we ain't about to leave you here with nothing." Ana assured her, as she noticed the horiffied look on her face.

"I'm not worrying about that," Kate confessed quietly "I guess the thought about you _needing_ it terrifies me."

Ana stared at her for a few seconds and then packed the first aid kit to her backpack and zipped it up. After that, she removed her gun from her jeans and slowly held it up to Kate. The brunette's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"C'mon, take it."

"No, I can't."

"You'll need it more than us," Ana growled.

"You're the ones who are going out there, not knowing who those people are or what they want from us. I'm **not** taking your gun."

Ana narrowed her eyes at her, surprised a little by that kind of reaction.

"Sawyer and I will be just fine without it and you'll be stuck here, having nowhere to run. Believe me, **you're **the ones that need it more." She spoke in a firm and stern voice. "Take it, Kate."

There was no point in arguing and Kate knew it. Ana was the most stubborn girl she had ever met.

"Thanks," she murmured, taking the gun from her hesitantly "But, I... I don't know how to use a gun--"

"Charlie knows, don't worry," Ana said softly, giving her a small, weak and reassuring smile. Kate nodded slowly and looked down.

"I, um--" the brunette began, her voice trembling. "I need to... I **want **to apologize to you for--"

"No, Kate, stop, you don't have to apologize at all," Ana protested quietly. "I should have told you about the baby... I... I had no right to treat you that way, I--"

"You're wrong," Kate stated, shaking her head "You lost your child and your job... I should have been there for you, I shouldn't have given up so fast. I just... I didn't know what was wrong with you and you wouldn't tell me, so pushin' you over and over again seemed pointless to me. I thought you had been out of your mind after the accident. I didn't realize that something like ... like **that** could have happened... I'm sorry. God, I'm so sorry," she finished, as her cheeks were marked by tears yet again. It seemed that being in this kind of situation ,when they were hours or minutes from death and when they lost so much in their lives, affected them both in a way neither of them could quite explain. There was no room for arguing. There was no room for regret and apologies. What happened in the past stopped mattering. Right then they could only care about getting the hell out of there, safe.

Ana just kept staring at Kate, not knowing what to say, not knowing what to think. The truth was that she had forgiven Kate as soon as she saw Jack's burning body. The pain she felt after losing him and Claire was so huge and overwhelming... she couldn't imagine what kind of pain she would feel if Kate or Sawyer or **God**, Charlie were killed.

"Just please, let me explain--" Kate started nervously and Ana knew immediately what she was trying to say, so she just held up her hand, telling her to shut up.

"It doesn't matter now and no hard feelings, but you and Sawyer are not the best with the whole apologizing shit, so let's just stop here, ok?" The Latina offered "I forgive you, Kate."

Three words. How could three words give them both so much strength? They were like a magic potion.

Kate had her eyes watered so much, that she probably couldn't really see anything.

"I want you to take care of our Munchkin, while I'm gone... and if I--"

"Stop," the brunette interrupted her sternly. "Don't even dare to finish that."

Ana sighed and looked away, as her stomach sank a little.

"Kate, you know that--"

"I know that you will find Aaron and come back. We're gonna get out of here. **All** of us." Kate announced firmly, apparently trying to convince herself more than Ana. "And don't talk like you're not coming back."

Ana glanced up at her, wanting nothing more than to say she was right.

"Promise me, that you'll come back." Kate whispered, as more tears fell from her eyes. The Latina swallowed hard, feeling like crying herself. But she couldn't. There would be a time for grieving later.

"Okay," Ana said, nodding.

"Say 'I promise'," Kate demanded, making her take a deep breath only to let it out seconds later.

"I promise, Kate."

**

* * *

Flashback**

**5 years ago**

"Kate, you want somethin'?!" Ana called to the brunette, as she stopped in the doorway.

"No, I'm good!"

"You sure? 'Cause I'm not gonna go one more time, so you better make sure now,"

"I'm sure, no worries!" Kate called back.

"Ana, come the heck on! They're closin' soon." Charlie spat, grabbing her arm and dragging her behind him.

"Damn, hold your horses, jerk off." Ana snapped back, halfheartedly "Let me at least close the freakin' door, would you?"

Kate shook her head with a smirk, as she listened to their argument. Jack was sitting right beside her and he seemed to be surprised, to say the least.

"It's not like you got anythin' that can be considered precious here, so yeah, why not, I can leave it wide open if you want!"

Jack shifted awkwardly, glancing at Kate with arched eyebrows, but she was just reading her magazine, as if World War 7 hadn't just been unleashed between two best friends.

"What do you mean I'm annoying?!" They heard Ana scream at the top of her lungs.

"Uh, Kate?" Jack cleared his throat "Shouldn't we... like, uh.. do something?"

"Uh-huh... what?" She asked, looking up at him with a frown. He sent her a look and just then Ana decided to yell some more insults "Oh** that**!" she laughed "No... you see, they're often like that, no need to worry, they'll be fine." Kate assured him and got back to reading.

"What the hell was that supposed to mean?!"

Jack looked at Kate again, who was still paying no attention to the yells. After a few seconds, the screams faded, as Charlie and Ana walked away far enough.

There was a silence for several moments and then Jack cleared his throat again. Kate looked up and he sent her a questioning look.

"What?"

"You even have to ask?" he said with a silly expression on his face "I mean... what _was _that?"

"Told you. They're often like that." Kate shrugged.

"You mean screaming their asses off at each other?"

"Well," she sighed, "Basically, it's usually Ana, that's yelling her ass off."

"What was their problem this time?"

"Oh nothin'. Ana just doesn't like when somebody tells her to hurry up."

"And that's it?" Jack asked in disbelief.

"Pretty much." she shrugged again, her eyes on the magazine.

"Wow. I thought they were like... best buddies."

"They are. They've known each other since before they can remember and they spend almost every minute with one another. I guess there are some moments when they have had enough. But don't worry, when they come back, everything will be cool again."

Jack rose his eyebrows even higher and nodded.

"So what is your story, Kate?"

"My story?"

"Yeah. I know some... uh,_ things _about Charlie and Ana's friendship, so what about you? When and how did you guys meet?"

"In high-school." Kate replied, smiling at the memories "There was a little incident one day. Ana argued with a girl, whose name was ... Jess, as I recall, in front of almost the entire school. She impressed me with how she played things out, so I just approached her later and told her that. And that's just how we started to hang out and became friends later on."

"She impressed you?"

"Yeah. You see, Ana was ... well, still **is **a very impetuous person," Jack agreed with a murmur "and everyone was sure she was going to just kick Jess's ass and yet she surprised everybody. That girl was also prepared for a fight, so when Ana went in and announced she just wanted to talk, Jess was humiliated and Ana won without getting her fists involved."

"Well, that's really impressive." Jack admitted.

"Yup. And guess who managed to talk her out of ripping that skank's face off?"

"Well, I don't know..." he murmured, frowning and pretending to think really hard about this. "Dear Lord, could it possibly be Charlie?"

Kate laughed and just nodded.

"They have so much history, don't they?"

"If you only knew just how much," Kate mumbled with a smirk. "Y'know, they're like brother and sister. Charlie always has her back and Ana... well Ana's always ready to kick somebody's ass for him"

Jack just chuckled. He was really glad he had met these people. He knew them just for a few weeks and yet he felt like much more time had passed by already. They were all so comfortable around each other, they were like old high school friends. And Jack simply wanted to be around them.

So far it looked he wasn't the only one. Claire seemed to be really happy around Charlie and Jack was more than fine with it. He liked this kid. He knew he wasn't going to hurt his sister. He couldn't possibly trust him more.

Claire got along with both Ana and Kate. She liked spending time with them and they really had fun together. She was used to having only guys around her. Jack remembered the times when he and Sawyer would think of playing something cool and she would ask if she can join them. They'd of course be all tough and say this was no game for girls. So her making friends with Ana and Kate was a nice change of pace and not just for her. She finally had someone to talk to about guys and to do all the girly things with. Well... talks about guys and girly things was left for her to enjoy _only_ with Kate. Whenever they would start saying something about guys, clothes or stuff like that, Ana was always able to sneak out unnoticed.

And there was Sawyer. He was the only one, who preferred to stay away. Jack didn't know what exactly his problem was, but he could only assume it had something to do with Ana. Since the very beginning it was obvious he liked her. And from what Jack noticed she liked him, too. The moment Sawyer admitted to Jack he had fallen in love with her back in the bar, he had been acting very weird. Of course he had tried to deny it later. He tried to convince Jack he was drunk, but the doctor knew better. And besides, Jack knew him since kindergarten, so he could easily tell whenever he was lying. And him denying he had fallen for the Latina was definitely a lie. And a nasty one, too.

The funny thing was that the only person who hadn't noticed the silly look on Sawyer's face whenever Ana was around was... Ana herself. She had no idea what the reason behind Sawyer's odd behavior and often absence was. She would just call him a jackass every time they had a get-together and he'd claim to be busy.

"There's Ana's birthday soon." Kate said, interrupting his thoughts. "Charlie and I are goin' to organise a party for her. You in?"

"Uh, yup. Sure." Jack assured her. "I'm sure Claire'll be happy to help, too."

"What about Sawyer?" The brunette asked curiously. "Will he finally stop hidin' and just admit to himself he had fallen for her or not? 'Cause I'm getting really tired of it."

Jack glanced at her, surprised. Okay, so he knew everybody already noticed he liked Ana, but he didn't think anybody would figure out that was the real reason why he was staying away.

"How'd you--?" he wanted to ask, but she just laughed.

"Jack," she sighed, shaking her head. "Jack, Jack, Jack... I'm a woman. We can see **everything**."

"Oh really?" He snorted, raising his eyebrows.

"Yes, really." Kate confirmed with a smirk and before he could think of something to say, Charlie and Ana burst through the door with tons of packages.

"Sweet Jesus, I thought we'd never make it here," the Latina announced, putting everything she was holding, down on the floor with a heavy sigh.

"Yeah, me too." Charlie agreed huskily, barely getting the words out. "Uh... Luce?"

"What?" Ana gasped and glanced at him. Well she couldn't actually see his face, because it was covered by all the packages he was holding or rather trying to hold.

"You think you could help me with these? I can't see anythin'."

"Well who told you to buy all this? What if nobody was home right now? What would you do? You'd have to take care of it on your own. How 'bout you try now?"

"But Ana?"

"What?"

"Half of these things are yours." Charlie gasped out, his knees bending uncontrollably.

Jack and Kate exchanged amused looks, barely stopping themselves from laughing out loud.

"Mine?" She scoffed "Are you kiddin' me?"

"Not really." He rasped, out of breath and Ana rolled her eyes.

"Ugh, you're such a baby. Okay, gimme those." She said and took the two biggest packages from him and walked away to the kitchen, muttering under her breath.

"Yeah and I love you, too!" He yelled after her, placing the last packages he was holding on the floor "Can you believe it?" He gasped, staring at Jack and Kate. "She's drivin' me cr--"

"For God's sake, will you come here already?!" Ana yelled from the kitchen, making Charlie jump.

"I'm coming!" He called and quickly grabbed as many packages as he could and stormed off to the kitchen.

Jack looked at Kate again and laughed.

"You said they'd be cool when they come back."

"And aren't they?" She asked, feigning confusion. He shook his head and she just smirked and got back to reading the magazine.

_"I'm a woman. We can see __**everything**__."_

Really? Then how come she couldn't see the way Jack was watching her since that night in the bar?

**The End of flashback**

* * *

Ana and Kate exited the trailer to see Charlie and Sawyer already waiting for them with Vincent by their side.

"You both ok?" The Southerner asked with concern in his voice and they just nodded and approached them. "Alright, you both remember about our plan, ok?"

Charlie glanced at Ana, but she decided not to return his stare.

"You stick to it and we're gonna be okay. **All **of us, you hear me?" Sawyer asked, looking at his friends as if challenging them to disagree. Kate just nodded again and Charlie murmured 'yes' under his breath. Ana locked eyes with Sawyer and he didn't need another confirmation. The blonde man let out a deep sigh and came over to Kate. After all, they needed to say goodbye... just in case.

"Watch yourself, Freckles." He whispered, giving her a brief hug.

"I will," she assured him in a trembling voice. "Same goes for you."

"Yeah, I'll try." He responded, giving her a sad smile and then turning to face Charlie. The guys stared at each other for a few moments.

"So, uh..." the Brit began awkwardly. "You better come back in one piece, man."

"And you better be in one piece when I come back."

Charlie managed to chuckle quietly and they embraced each other briefly, patting one another's backs.

"Aaron's **my** baby." Charlie said all of a sudden, when Sawyer was about to turn to walk away.

"What?"

"He's _my_ child. I should be the one, that--"

"I thought we've been through this already, man..." Sawyer groaned "No offence, but I'm stronger and I'm faster than you. You'd have no chance if you went out there alone. Besides... Kate needs you."

Charlie gaped at him for several seconds and then turned his head just in time to see Kate and Ana hugging.

"_You_ are her best friend and _you _are the one she needs right now." The Southerner added "And I swear to God... I won't let them hurt Ana, okay? I'd rather die myself, than--"

"I know, man." Charlie assured him "You just be careful."

"I won't say goodbye, coz we'll see each other again, soon" Sawyer stated in a strong and firm voice and for a second Charlie began to wonder how it was possible that he was still able to find strength after losing his two best friends with whom he had spent his whole life with.

"See ya, man." The Brit said and held out his hand. Sawyer shook it and with one last half-smile, he started to walk away. Charlie watched him go for a short while and then the last person he wanted to say goodbye to approached him.

Ana just stopped before him and he noticed the emptiness and sorrow her eyes were filled with. Although, if you looked deep enough, you'd see the fire and the intention of revenge that she wanted to get so much.

"How should I say goodbye to my best friend?" She asked him softly. He tilted his head, returning her gaze and wondering how they got here. How could this all happen? He still hoped it was just a nightmare. He still hoped he would wake up with Claire, curled up by his side and with Aaron, crying his eyes out to get their attention.

How was she supposed to say goodbye to her best friend, brother and family?

"You don't." Charlie whispered, giving her the smallest, softest smile he was able to force. Ana bit her lip and slowly nodded, trying her best to stop herself from crying "Come here," he murmured and pulled her into a hug. "I love you."

She wrapped her numb arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulder, closing her eyes and just hoping it wasn't the last time she was embracing him.

"I love you back." Ana mumbled, her voice muffled, because of her mouth pressed firmly against his arm. After what seemed like hours, they pulled apart slowly and looked at each other again. Ana ruffled his hair, something she used to often do when they were kids and then grabbed Vincent's leash from him. He sent her the slightest smile he was able to force himself to and watched his best friend walk further and further away from him.

He felt Kate next to him suddenly and turned his head to look at her. Her eyes were still watered and she was watching Ana go with a look of defeat and fear on her pale face. Charlie swallowed hard and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to him and silently trying to say everything was going to be okay.

In the meantime, Ana made her way to Sawyer, who was just standing in one spot and staring at the hills before them. He glanced at her, as she stopped beside him and let out a heavy breath, clenching his fists.

"You ready for this?"

It took her a few seconds, before she returned his gaze and managed to reply, "No. You?"

He hesitated and then shook his head, "No."

Ana stared back at the hills and, without another word, she made sure her backpack was slung over her shoulder and walked away with Vincent by her side. Sawyer squeezed his eyes and then opened them again and followed her.

**

* * *

Flashback**

**5 years ago**

"Happy birthday!!"

Ana grimaced at the yell on the other line, as she answered the phone.

"Ugh, Charlie!" She hissed, fighting to open her eyes. Once she did, she reached to look at the clock that was sitting on a table beside her bed. "Oh my_ fucking _God, it's **6 a.m**.!"

"No," He objected with a chuckle "It's 6.09, exactly the time, when you were born and it was--"

"I know how many years ago, don't have to tell me again." She whispered, rolling her eyes "Now I'm gonna hang up on your ass and try to fall asleep again, so_ goodbye_!"

"Wouldn't do that if I were you." Charlie said calmly and happily, making her sigh in annoyance. He always enjoyed making her angry.

"Yeah? And why's that?" Ana growled, lying down and closing her eyes again.

"Coz there's at least um... four others who are_ dying _to wish you happy birthday themselves and they are standing right beside me."

"God, you told everybody to come over at your place at 6 a.m. on saturday mornin'?" She asked slowly, shaking her head against the pillow. "You're **insane**."

"No... I told everybody to come over at _your_ place at 6 a.m. on saturday mornin' and that's where we are."

"_**What?!**_" Ana yelled, shooting up in a sitting position with a horrified expression on her face. She was fully awake now.

"You don't have to thank me, Luce." Charlie replied and she could tell he was smirking just by the sound of his voice. The line went dead and Ana stared at her cell phone with her mouth opened wordlessly.

"Son of a bitch." She summed up, pissed off, but before she could say something else, there was a knocking and she froze. So this wasn't a joke? Ana was staring at the wall for a few seconds and then she blinked quickly and threw her duvet away and made her way out of her bed and bedroom. She ran over to the door and opened it wide, gaping in shock at Charlie, Claire, Jack, Kate and suprisingly Sawyer, who were all grinning at her.

"Well, it's about time." Kate exclaimed happily "It's pretty cold out here." And with that she entered her apartment with a big package in her hand. Claire, Charlie and Jack followed her, each one with packages, pushing past a stunned Ana in the doorway.

"Nice pyjamas."

She turned her head to look at Sawyer, who had a big grin on his face. Ana looked down at herself to see a baggy pair of blue shorts and a white top. Then she looked back up at the smirking Southerner and rolled her eyes.

"You got a problem?"

"Me?" He asked, surprised. "Hell no! You look cute." He complimented and passed her by. Ana made a 'face' and then closed the door with a groan. She was still mad at him for his weird behavior. She couldn't tell what his problem was.

"Okay, what the hell y'all doing at my place at 6 a.m.?" The Latina demanded, as she entered the kitchen. "What the** hell **are you doing?!"

Kate was already bustling around the kitchen with spoons and plates, Charlie and Claire were busy with some sort of a big box and Jack was cleaning a table.

"Guys!" Ana exclaimed, when nobody responded. "Guys...Guys, g_-guys_!"

"Here, hold this." Kate told her, pushing spoons into her hands and quickly walking away.

"What?" Ana gasped, staring after her, completely confused. "Guys! **HEY**!" She yelled out, finally making them notice her. Charlie and Claire stopped doing... whatever it was they were doing. Jack froze with a dish-cloth in his hand and Kate stopped segregating forks. The only person who wasn't really doing anything from the beginning was Sawyer, who was leaning against the wall lazily for the whole time, just watching everybody.

"Now that you finally noticed my presence... Let me ask you just one simple question, ok?" Ana said, apparently trying to remind calm this time. "Just **what** y'all doing with my kitchen?!"

"Why you ask?" Charlie asked, dumb-founded. "It's your birthday, we're having a party!"

"Do I look like a birthday person to _any_ of you?" She said sarcastically, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You sure don't look like a candles-blowing type to me, Chica." Sawyer responded, smirking.

"Yeah and for the very first time you're right." Ana said to him and then gazed at everybody else. "Can you please leave it all and just... let me go back to sleep?" She asked, tryng to be calm and polite.

"Hell **no**!" Everybody yelled back at her at the same moment, making her eyes widen in surprise.

"Come over here, we got something for ya!" Charlie added. "Come on, come on!"

"Uh, I don't think you guys understood me." Ana announced, but she was already being dragged away by Claire, who quickly ran over to her and grabbed her arm.

"It'll be so much fun, c'mon!"

"Yeah now _that _I am sure of." The Latina said sarcastically as they made her way to grinning Charlie.

"Close your eyes!"

"Oh come on!"

"Close them!"

"You gotta be kidding me! Isn't it--?" Ana began, but once again she was interrupted.

"**Close**!" Everybody yelled at her and she frowned.

"Did you guys... like, uh, _conspire_ against me or wh-?" She paused as she felt Claire wrap her hands aroudn her head, covering her eyes.

"There." The blonde said happily.

"Okay!" Charlie exclaimed, clasping his hands excitedly. "Come over closer."

Ana let out a heavy sigh, but listened.

"Closer."

She moved closer again.

"Closer... closer... closer..."

"Shut up!"

"Okay, you can stay where you're standin'." The Briton announced. "Now gimme your hand."

"Is it blindman's buff?!"

"Something like that." Charlie told her and grabbed her arm. "Now just feel it."

"**Wha**--?!" Ana frowned, but paused as she felt her hand touch something soft and warm. She released herself from Claire's grip and looked down. In the big box, that Charlie and Claire had been busy with before was a little, sandy-haired and sleeping Labrador.

"Oh my God!" She exclaimed and the dog woke up, looked up at her with sweet little eyes and let out a squeal. Ana stared at him in amazement and then looked at Charlie.

"He's all yours." He told her with a nod and everybody seemed to wait for some sort of reaction from her.

Ana was speechless. She didn't expect it.... any of it, to be honest. Well, Charlie and Kate always were the first ones at her door at her every birthday with some crazy presents (Charlie even gave her a new boiler once, no questions asked), but she never thought they'd go _that _far. A puppy? Claire, Jack... and _Sawyer_? In her house?_ On saturday? At __**6 a.m**__.?! _

"It's uh..." She began, not really knowing what to say. "He's awesome." She said finally, picking the little dog up and stroking his ears.

"You heard her?" Charlie asked, looking at Kate and Claire, who both nodded with smiles on their faces "She said he's awesome. She said he's awesome, Kate." He repeated, glancing at the brunette.

"Oh... my God." Kate commented slowly.

"And that means... she **likes** him!" the Briton exclaimed happily, as if he just won millions of dollars and Jack stared at him with a frown.

"Why are you so excited?" The doctor questioned, shaking his head at the behavior.

"Because..." Charlie started slowly. "It's the first time that Ana actually likes her birthday present from me!"

"It's from me and Jack as well!" Claire threw in and Ana smiled at this.

"Yeah, yeah, of course!" Charlie confirmed, waving his hand lazily.

"And it's not the only one." Kate announced and came over to Ana with a black, narrow box. The Latina looked at her friend in surprise and then took it from her.

"Thanks." She murmured, curious and opened the box. There was a glossy, silver gun in it. "Wow, Kate!"

"I knew you were gonna like it!" the Brunette said, smirking.

"Like it? I love it! Thank you so much!" Ana exclaimed and hugged her. As soon as they broke apart she ran over to Charlie to do the same. Then she thanked Claire, Jack and Sawyer and they all assured her she was very welcome and that they were glad to make her happy.

"We got your birthday cake, as well!" Claire informed her "I'll take care of it." She quickly added and walked away to unpack all the bags. Ana was looking around in amazement, as all her friends, the old and the new ones, began to prepare food and drinks. She felt extremely happy to have their attention and all that really made her feel special, all of a sudden.

An hour later Claire felt sick and went to the bathroom. A few minutes later they all heard sounds of vomiting. Jack sighed and moved to get up, but was stopped by Charlie.

"Don't worry, mate. I'll take care of her," he assured the doctor and walked away. Jack watched him go with unfocused eyes and Ana smiled at his goofy face. Jack usually never drank. So it was pretty damn funny to see him so wasted. Another ten minutes passed by and Ana got up, too, murmuring something about checking on Claire and left the room, leaving Jack and Kate alone. She was wondering where Sawyer was. He definitely didn't leave, she'd hear the door if he did.

Ana shook Sawyer out of her mind, as she entered the bathroom, seeing Claire hovering above the toilet with Charlie patting her back sympathetically.

"Ay, Blondie," the Latina sighed, approaching the pair. "Told you not to mix cake with drinks and with chips and with ice-cream and--"

"Shut up, birthday girl." Charlie spat at her playfully and she smirked.

"You done?" Ana asked Claire, obviously referring to vomiting.

"I think so," she replied in a husky, tired voice.

"Ok, then come on, you're gonna lie down in my bedroom, alright?" Ana offered, placing her hand on Claire's shoulder. She nodded and Charlie moved to pick her up from the floor. She ended up being carried like a bride. Without another word, Charlie exited the bathroom with Claire in his arms and Ana just watched him go with an unreadable expression on her face. It definitely looked like they were going to hook up soon.

She came out of the bathroom just in time to see the door of her bedroom close. She knew Charlie was going to take care of her, so she decided to come back to the rest.

Ana got back to the room just in time to notice that Jack and Kate had passed out on the couch. He was sitting with his arm around Kate's waist and she was leaning against him, her cheek pressed to his forearm, his chin rested on her head. She just stood there, not knowing what to do, let alone what to think. What the hell was going on today? Was her birthday some kind of a joint hook-up? And how ironic was it that **she **was the one who was left alone and for God's sake it was **her** birthday, right?

Ana just laughed to herself at the thoughts and decided to do some cleaning, since she had nothing better to do. First off all, she brought a blanket and covered Kate and Jack with it and then she gathered all the plates and glasses and walked away to the kitchen. She put the dishes into the sink and attempted to wash them, when a deep voice rang out behind her.

"You need any help?"

Ana looked up and smirked, knowing very well he couldn't see her face, since she had her back turned to him.

"Prince Charming appeared once again to save me, huh?" she said sarcastically, bringing back memories of the night they had met.

"Pretty much," he admitted and she glanced at him over her shoulder. He was leaning against the counter, a glass with whiskey in his hand. "So what's your answer?"

"That's nice of you to ask, **prince**," Ana teased, making him smirk "But I think I'll manage."

"It's your birthday, you shouldn't be doin' this." He remarked and she pretended to be shocked.

"**Wow**, no kiddin'! You figured it out on your own or has somebody helped ya?"

He just laughed and Ana shook her head and turned her back on him once again.

"That's funny," he rasped "**You're** funny."

"I have my moments."

"Yeah and quite a lot of them, I'd say."

Ana rolled her eyes. _Cheesy line._

"Where did you disappear?"

"I was in the next room."

"What were you doin' there?" She demanded, getting more and more suspicious with every word, that came out of his mouth.

"Watchin' a movie." He answered, grinning. "Sorry, I couldn't miss it. It was a great comedy I've been waiting to see for a long time."

"Sawyer, **what** were you doin' there?" Ana asked him again, turning around to face him and resting her elbows on the edge of the sink and he looked at her with rose eyebrows.

"Just told ya, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you see," she began, looking up at the ceiling, unimpressed. "Maybe I'd actually buy it, but there's just one problem."

"What'cha mean?"

"I mean, the next time you try to lie somebody like that, make sure there's actually a television in the room you were supposed to watch a movie in, okay?"

Sawyer's eyes widened and he crinkled his nose looking like a five year old who had been caught by his parents stealing candy from a cupboard.

"Alright, alright, you got me, Chica!" He exclaimed, spreading his arms. "I'll tell you the truth."

"I'm waiting." She spat. She didn't want her voice to sound so harsh and she almost felt sorry, seeing the look he gave her afterwards.

"Well I was trying to figure out how to pack my present for you, Lucy."

Ana's eyes softened and she felt stupid for jumping at him before. She wasn't expecting that. Then again, she wasn't expecting a lot of things...

"Oh," she whispered, shocked to the core.

"Yeah, I'm not really good with this stuff," he explained lamely. Ana placed her hand on her forehead, smirking at him sheepishly.

"Man, you didn't have to buy me anything and you definitely didn't need to pack it," she assured him after a while of awkward silence. He tilted his head and grinned.

"Well, if you say so."

She didn't even manage to blink and he was right in front of her, staring into her eyes, like a freaking pedator.

"Can I help you?" Ana questioned him slowly, trying to pull away, but she only ended up with her back pressed harder against the counter.

"You want that present, Lucy Lu?" He asked, ignoring her last question.

Okay, he was definitely too close. While Ana was wondering whether she should kick him in the groin or just shove him away, he moved even closer and she just froze right there, pinned between his solid form and the hard counter. She felt trapped, but at the same time she couldn't help, but feel the comfort of being close to him. As ridiculous as it sounded for her, 'cause she had only known him just for a few weeks, she wouldn't deny the chemistry that had been already created between them.

"Are you takin' some kind of medica--?"

She was cut off by his lips, as they harshly crashed against hers. Her breath was taken away, her eyes widened and she flinched slightly. Not that she didn't see it coming!... Okay, she _didn't_.

Ana placed her hands on his chest and attempted to push him away, but he deepened the kiss and it felt too good to just end it right then. Somehow her arms found their way around his neck and maybe it was a moment of weakness, maybe the fact he was a good kisser or maybe she simply liked him, because she didn't just _let _him kiss her, but she actually kissed him _back._

He pulled away suddenly, keeping his eyes closed and Ana was still against him for a few seconds, before removing her arms from around his neck and looking up at him with a mixture of confusion and surprise.

"That was your present?" she asked huskily and he smirked at the fact she was out of breath.

"What, you didn't like it?"

"I was just wondering how you wanted to pack it." She replied, gaping straight into his amused eyes, that were trying very hard to hide the satisfaction. He laughed, not really knowing what made him do so; her smart remark or the fact she didn't deny she liked the kiss.

Sawyer shook his head at her and then pulled slightly away to reach for a package, which was sitting on the counter beside her. He took a big bottle of tequila out of it. Ana stared at it, noticing shreds of red knot he was obviously trying to decorate the present with. She looked up at him with a frown and a soft smile on her face. He was eating her up with his eyes for a long while and then smirked even wider, holding the bottle up to her.

"Well, _this_ is my present, to be honest, Lulu."

She shook her head with a laugh and took it from him.

"You were right. You **suck **at packing." The Latina stated and he just sent her a mischevious grin and punched her arm lightly.

"Happy birthday, Muchacha."

And this was it. That kiss started a relationship, that was supposed to last forever.

That's right. **Was.**

_Maybe some things are just not meant to be..._

**The End of flashback**

**

* * *

A/N: **My Beta rocks, I'm tellin' ya! =D Hope you liked it! Thank you for all your reviews! :)


	7. The middle of hell

**Wickedgal08: **I'm glad that my Beta actually likes the story she agreed to help me with. At least I know you're not angry every time I send you a chapter, lol. Thank you soooo much, girl! =D

**Renata Holloway: **"I feel so happy when I see an update of ths story in my mail box! Great update by the way! I like everything!" Thank you very much! Your reviews are very appreciated. :) Thanks for sticking with me since the very beginning.

**Allie: **"loved the kiss there at the end, but come did you have to leave it there" The reason why I left it there is because I'm not really good with writing love scenes. Thank you so much for your reviews!

**

* * *

Chapter 7: "The middle of hell"**

"Sawyer,"

"Huh?"

"We need to talk."

"Wait, I'm watching a movie, it's awesome-"

"Sawyer!"

"What?!"

"We gotta **talk**."

"By saying that, you can only mean one thing," Sawyer spoke slowly, finally turning his head to look at his long time girlfriend, who was standing in a doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. Was she about to dump him?

"I may consider doin' what you just suggested if you don't turn that damn television off," Ana said, her voice deadly low. He almost sighed in relief at that. So she was not going to break it off with him. As much as it calmed him down, he still didn't like the way she was acting. Something must have happened. Something bad.

"Let's talk then," he said, switching the television off, forgetting all about the awesome movie he had been watching. Ana let out a heavy breath and slowly made her way to their couch, then hesitantly sat down on it, quite far away from him, "You alright, chica?"

"I'm not sure." she admitted, staring straight into his eyes.

"Spill, hun. Just spill," Sawyer growled, trying to get ready for whatever was to come. "But you ain't got a sickness for which there is no cure, right?" He blurted out, fear and concern in his voice, as he moved closer to Ana and grabbed her shoulders, "Shit, just tell me already!"

"I'm fucking pregnant!" She yelled out, somehow happy to finally have it off of her chest. She thought those words would never come out of her mouth and yet they somehow had. "I'm pregnant, _God_, Sawyer!"

She closed her eyes and waited. She had no idea how he would react. As much as everybody knew how tough she was... she had never been more scared in her whole life. She loved Sawyer so much. She loved him as much as she possibly could and she loved him like she didn't love anybody else in her life, so the possibility of him leaving her was frightening the crap out of her. And even after almost five years of being together, they had never talked about kids. They never even talked about marriage. They lived together, slept together, shared money together, but they never even thought about creating a family together. Not even once.

Ana held her breath, opened her eyes and her heart sank at the look he gave her. This was it. She was sure of it. He was going to leave now. In less than a few seconds, he was going to fucking go to their bedroom, pack all his shit and leave--

"I love you, you know that, right?"

She furrowed her eyebrows, not knowing what he was still doing here and why he was hurting her even more by saying that to her before leaving.

"You thought of any names already?"

Ana stiffened and gaped at him in disbelief.

"What?"

"Did you think of any names already?" He asked her again in a careless tone. "I always liked 'Joseph', but I don't think our child would like it--"

"So, you're not leaving?" She interrupted him, still wearing a shocked expression on her face.

"What?" He growled, frowning. "What are you talking about, chica? Why would I be leaving? Are you sure you don't have a fever? Or are the hormones kicking in already?" Sawyer teased, rubbing her shoulders lightly and grinning from ear to ear like a kid who just got a lollipop.

"I, uh--" she stammered, "I just didn't think--- Wait, WHAT? Do you really think I'd let you name our son _Joseph_?! You're dreaming, Cowboy!"  
"Well, what's wrong with it?"

"Everything!"

"What about Wilhelm?"

"Gah, you're **so** mean!" Ana laughed, hitting him playfully on his arm and completely forgetting about her fears. He wasn't going anywhere. He really wanted this baby, he _wanted_ to create a family with her.  
"What?! Kid would love it!" Sawyer responded, making her chuckle and shake her head. "You really thought I'd leave you, dumbass?" He asked her and she hit him again.

"Watch your mouth, shitface." Ana said and his eyes widened, as his mouth opened wordlessly.

"_What _did you just call me?!" He growled in disbelief, feigning shock. She chuckled and didn't even manage to blink before he pushed her out of her sitting position and pinned her to the couch, glancing down at her tummy, "I don't want our baby to be alone in there, so c'mon, let's make twins!"

Ana laughed and pulled him into a kiss, thinking she had never felt happier. And more relieved, too. Suddenly, she felt stupid that she suspected Sawyer about leaving her and their baby. How could she even think that?

Ana shrugged off her thoughts, when Sawyer took off his shirt, not wanting to worry about anything else at the matter, but as if on cue--

"Argh, dammit!" The Southerner muttered, as Ana's cell began to ring. She sighed in annoyance herself, but reached for the cell to take it out of her pocket anyway, which turned out to be a hard thing to do with Sawyer's full weight on top of her.

"Tell me who the hell it is so I can hurt them later," he groaned, his face curved in anger.

"It's Charlie," Ana replied, smirking at his anger, before answering, "Sup, man?"

There was a moment of silence in which Sawyer tried to get Ana out of her own top and for a second she looked ready to help him with that, but then suddenly her eyebrows furrowed and she put her free hand on his to shrug it off of her waist and then slightly pushed him away and propped up her weight on her elbow with a serious expression on her face.

"What?" She rasped, making Sawyer send her a questioning, worried look. "Yes, sure... Ok, all right, we'll be right there, I swear."

Ana pushed him away fully and then quickly got up.

"What's wrong?" Sawyer asked, as she threw his shirt at him.

"Get dressed," she told him, "We're going to the hospital."

"What happened?" He questioned, pulling the shirt over his head in a hurry. Still holding her cell, Ana grabbed some bags from the nearest table and turned to look him in the eye.

"Claire's having a baby."

**The End of flashback**

* * *

"Which way, Vincent? Which way? Come on. Follow the trail!" Ana spurred on her dog, as she and Sawyer practically ran after him. She was holding the dog's leash and Sawyer was holding Charlie's baseball bat in his hand.

After what seemed like an hour, they made their way to a track. They followed it, passing an old, destroyed fence by on their way and finally they got to a downward slope, leading to a dark, dismal mine.

They stopped in front of a big, wooden door and looked at each other, as if they needed the slightest hint of comfort, which being together definitely was.

"Come on, big guy. I hope you're not afraid of the dark," Ana said, breaking the eye-contact and staring down at Vincent.

Together, they opened the door and entered the mine slowly and carefully, sensitive to every single sound.

"Here, get the flashlight," Ana whispered, turning her back on Sawyer, so he could take it out of her backpack. "Got it?"

"Yeah, I got it," he whispered right back after a few seconds, zipping up the backpack. "Let's go."

So they did. Further and further into the darkness with each step...

**

* * *

Flashback**

**About one year ago**

"Excuse me!"

"Can I help you, sir?"

"Yes, we're looking for Claire... Claire Littleton--"

"Claire Pace," Ana corrected, interrupting him. "She's having her baby, do you know where we can find--?"

"Yes, of course, I do," the nurse said. "Follow me, please."

And she walked away. Sawyer and Ana glanced at each other, both out of breath and then quickly ran after the woman. She lead them down some stairs and into a hall, where they immediately spotted Charlie with his head buried in his hands, as he was sitting on a chair in a delivery ward.

"Charlie!" Ana gasped, coming over to him. He looked up at the sound of her voice and relief appeared on his pale, sweaty face. He barely managed to get up before he found himself being pulled into a hug.

"We came as fast as we could," the Latina announced, as they broke apart. "Is she all right? What happened?"

"I don't know... they don't wanna tell me anything," he told her in a tired, resigned voice. "We were almost asleep and all of a sudden she went to the bathroom. Then I heard a crash, so I jumped out of the bed and ran to the bathroom and she was lying there on the floor... and-and there was so much blood... I didn't know what to do, I couldn't-- I couldn't find my cell, I--"

"It's gonna be ok," Ana assured him quickly, hugging him again, "she'll be just fine, don't worry."

"They said it's too early..." Charlie mumbled, his eyes filling with tears. "She's not ready yet, but she had to, because the baby would die inside of her if she didn't---... we had no other choice, but it... the baby could die anyway..."

"It's not gonna die," she stated firmly, pulling away slighty to cup his face in her hands. "Everything's gonna be all right, ok? Trust me."

He nodded, snivelling.

"I don't want to lose her now."

"You **won't**," Ana whispered and he looked straight into her black eyes with fear and sorrow. "Remember what we were doing back when we were kids? Remember what we were doing when one of us was scared?"

Charlie let out a weak chuckle and nodded again.

"But I don't see any bed we can hide under now."

"That's not what I mean." she said, letting a small smile appear on her face. "When I was scared, you were always there for me and I was always there for you when you needed it, remember?"

"Yeah," Charlie whispered softly, continue to fight away his tears.

"Well, nothing's changed. I'm here for you. And you know that nothing bad can happen to you when** I **am with you, so Claire's going to be all right."

Charlie was too tired and too scared to respond, so he just nodded again, letting her know with his eyes how much he appreciated that she was there with him. Ana was the best friend he could ever dream of having.

"I promise that she's gonna be okay," Ana stated, feeling Sawyer's eyes on her. He probably thought it wasn't the best idea to make such a promise, but Ana knew what she was talking about. She didn't know how to explain it, but something told her that Claire was going to be just fine. "I **promise**."

A few hours passed and there was no news on how Claire was doing. Charlie was once again sitting with his head buried in his hands and Ana was right beside him, her arm was wrapped around his waist for comfort and she was gaping at the white wall in front of her with shiny eyes. Sawyer was pacing around the hall impatiently.

Finally, a nurse approached them.

"Mr. Pace?"

Charlie was on his feet, before Ana could so much as blink, staring at the woman with fear.

"Yes, it's me," he replied, his voice shaking. Ana also stood up, grabbing his hand to calm him down. Sawyer came over to them, too, gaping at the nurse with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Congratulations," the woman smiled, "you have a strong, healthy son."

* * *

It was cold in that mine. So cold that Ana started to shiver, trying to convince herself that it was just the freezing air on her arms and back that possesed her body to react that way. It must have been just the air. There was no room for being scared now.

"Sawyer," Ana spoke suddenly, as the flashlight she was now holding enlightened a dark corner of a mine and made her notice something between the rocks, "look."

He stopped and his eyes found what Ana had noticed.

"What's that?" He rhetorically asked and they both came over to take a closer look at whatever it was.

There were a lot of hacks, which had all been driven into the ground, choppers upwards. There were black and white pictures of some people, leaning against each hack. Ana was under the impression that it looked like a cementary, but with hacks instead of crosses.

"Let's go." Sawyer's voice echoed in her ears, but she didn't hear him at first. "Chica, come on." He tried again, when she didn't react. Eventually she tore her gaze away from the hacks and looked at Sawyer. Not knowing what to say, she just nodded and they kept on moving, following Vincent.

After a few minutes they spotted a small source of light somewhere ahead. They made their way to it and it lead them out of the mine. The burning sun blinded them and they covered their faces with their arms. As their eyes slowly began to get used to the bright light, they dropped their arms at the same time and noticed something below the hill they were on top of.

It looked like a small town. Sawyer and Ana approached the edge of the hill and now they could clearly see little houses, gathered between the hills.

Ana felt a lump in her throat and swallowed hard, tightening her grip on Vincent's leash. Not taking her eyes off of the town, she blindly reached for Sawyer's hand and then grabbed it with hers. He turned his head slightly and glanced down at their tangled hands and then up at Ana's profile and gave her soft hand a light squeeze, trying to assure her that everything was going to be all right, trying to calm her down, comfort her, so that she wouldn't have to be so scared. Although, as much as he didn't want to admit that, he had never been more scared in his entire life himself.

Not letting go of Ana's hand, he reached for his pocket to take a walkie out and then put it close to his mouth, wondering what he should say. "Charlie?... Charlie, we followed the blood trail. It leads to a town or something out here." Silence answered him. "Charlie?"

**

* * *

Flashback**

**About one year ago**

"He's beautiful and looks just like his mommy!" Charlie excitedly informed Sawyer and Ana, who were anxiously waiting their turn to see the baby.

"You picked a name yet?" Ana asked, smiling happily at the good news.

"Yup. Claire did. Aaron."

"Nice," Sawyer commented with the biggest grin anyone had ever seen on his face. "So when can we go see him?"

"Right now, come on," Charlie said and motioned with his arm for them to follow him. He lead them down the hall and then through some door to a room. Children's whimpers could be heard before they had even entered.

There were a few beds in that room and Claire was lying on the farthest from the door, right beside a window. Sawyer smiled even wider, if that was possible, at the sight of a small figure in her arms, wrapped up in a white, soft blanket. They made their way to her bed and she looked up, tears still glistening in her blue eyes, skin still slightly flushed.

"Hey," Claire spoke in a tender, quiet voice, "say hello to Aaron."

Ana stood there, stiffened, as her hand automatically wandered down to her tummy. In less than nine months, she would be the one lying in a hospital bed with a sweet, little child in her arms. She couldn't believe it. She was going to be a mother--

"You ok?" Charlie asked her suddenly and she glanced up, noticing the concern on his face. Sawyer was also staring at her, knowing very well what was that about, since he felt exactly the same. Because in less than nine months he would be coming to the same hospital to see Ana lying in a hospital bed with _their _baby in her arms.

"Yeah," the Latina smiled. "I'm great," she added and sat down on the bed, right beside Claire. "He's beautiful."

"That he is," the blonde woman confirmed, kissing her son's warm forehead. "Do you wanna hold him?" She asked Ana, whose eyes widened immediately.

"I, uh--" Ana stammered, but Claire was already giving her Aaron.

"Go ahead, take him."

So she had no other choice, but to take him gently in her arms. He was really beautiful. His eyes were blue and innocent, just like Claire's. And he had such sweet little fingers, that Ana had to swallow back her tears of happiness at the thought she was going to have her own little, sweet baby soon.

"I gotta pee," Claire announced all of a sudden, glancing at Charlie, who nodded and came over to her.

"We'll be right back," he told Sawyer, as he helped Claire out of the bed. "You stay here with Aaron, alright?"

"Sure," the Southerner agreed, smiling and sitting down beside Ana. He waited until Charlie and Claire had left the room and then turned his head to look at Aaron.

"So, chica," he started in a careless tone, "how do you like it so far?"

"He's not **my **baby," Ana remarked, smirking at him.

"Seriously?" he asked, rising his eyebrows and pretending to be shocked. "You're lookin' good with him, though. You're doin' all right."

"Like I'll believe you," Ana mumbled, rocking Aaron gently in her arms.

"I'm serious, Ana," Sawyer said and as she gazed at him, she really noticed the serious expression on his face. "You're gonna be a great mom."

Her eyes softened and she sent him an uncertain, small smile.

"And they keep on asking me what makes me love you so much."

He smiled back at her and it wasn't one of those cheesy, shit-eating smirks Ana had seen him give her so many times. This smile was different. It was like Sawyer suddenly decided to grow up and quit being just an annoying perv (though sweet in a very weird Sawyer-ish way) and become an adult. Become a man who finally found somebody he cared about more than he could ever imagine.

"You know what, mija?" He growled, wrapping his arm around her back and pulling her closer to him. "Sometimes I ask myself the same question."

She rolled her eyes with a smirk and then glanced back down at the baby.

"But I love ya more," he added after a few seconds, making her look up again.

"Not possible," she responded and he just grinned wider, letting her know he was about to give some smart-ass remark or sarcastic comment of his.

"You think they can hurry up?" Sawyer asked, referring to Charlie and Claire and Ana frowned.

"Why?"

"I still feel like making the twins, y'know..."

**That **was why she loved him. She didn't need a man who would always take everything serious. She didn't need a guy who would buy her roses from time to time. She didn't want a fucking prince charming. She wanted a guy like Sawyer. Nothing more, nothing less. Just Sawyer. And she was happy.

"Perv," Ana spat playfully, throwing her head back and laughing at his so Sawyer-like comment.

* * *

"_Charlie?_" A husky voice rang out in a radio, "_Charlie, we followed the blood trail... It leads to a town or something out here... Charlie?_"

But unfortunately nobody was in the trailer to hear Sawyer's words.

Outside, though, Kate was rolling a tyre, panting, finding it hard to breathe as the air around her became hot and thick. The rising sand was stinging her already watery eyes. She placed the tyre a few meters away from the trailer and opened up a white bottle with fuel she was holding in her hand, then poured the liquid all over it. She threw the bottle away and then reached into her pocket and took out a box of matches, took one out and struck it, then threw it down on the tyre, making it set on fire. A thick, black smoke began to rise into the air and Kate looked up at the sky, praying for somebody to see it, for somebody to hear their calls...

She licked her lips, tasting her dry blood and turned around to see a kneeling Charlie with a hammer in his hand. She swallowed hard and slowly came over to him. He was driving small pales into the sand, gasping and swearing under his breath.

They were setting up traps for them...those people... whoever they were. It was a part of their plan. Sawyer and Ana were supposed to go for the baby, while Kate and Charlie stayed near the trailer, trying not to get themselves killed.

_"Stay here 'till it starts to grow dark," _Sawyer had told them, _"If we're not back by th__at__ time... just go."_

"Who knows?... Maybe someone heard our calls..." Kate murmured in a hopeless tone, apparently trying to convince herself more than Charlie. The Brit looked up at her with his eyebrows furrowed in pure fury.

"Nobody's gonna hear the fucking calls, Kate!" He yelled. "Nobody's gonna see the goddamn smoke in this goddamn desert!" He shouted, as he continued to drive small wooden pales into the sand and out of his anger and desperation he accidentally hit his hand with the hammer. "Oh fuck, God!" He screamed, shaking his hand and grunting in pain. Kate was gaping down at him for a few seconds and then, despite how hard she tried to fight her tears, she began to sob quietly. Charlie sucked in a breath and then glanced up at her again. And he felt ashamed for yelling at her, for acting this way. He didn't mean it. Any of it. But, after all, the sorrow after losing Claire and Jack and the fear about Aaron, Sawyer and Ana took the best of him and he just needed to lay it all on something... _anything_. He just had to feel something other than sorrow, something other than fear.

Charlie stood up and slowly, hesitantly, pulled Kate into a hug and that's when she totally broke, crying out loud and wrapping her limp hands around his torso, burying her face in his t-shirt.

"I'm sorry," he whispered and she just shook her head against his chest, whimpering, letting him know she understood. Because she knew how he felt. The man she loved was gone. Her close friend was gone. And Sawyer and Ana were out there, maybe already pain was too overwhelming. "I'm so scared!" Kate cried, pulling him even closer to her, as if she was afraid, that at any second he could be gone, too. "Who are these people?!"

* * *

They felt like some random characters from a script of a lame horror movie. An ex-cop and her ex-lover, stranded in the middle of nowhere, risking their own lives to save their friend's baby from evil strangers they knew nothing about.

Old, dirty, destroyed houses and cars sorrounded them in the town. Wind made sand rise into the air and it was stinging their eyes painfully.

"Sawyer," Ana rasped and he turned to see her pointing at some board in front of them.

**Test Village**

**38**

**Military Area**

**Rise of radiation**

**United States' Property**

They were looking at it for a while and then, Sawyer shook his head and glanced at Ana once again.

"Come on," he whispered and when she still didn't move, he grabbed her elbow tenderly and urged her to keep moving.

They spotted swings on their left. There were kid dummies sitting on them. Their clothes and faces were black, as though they were burned. They saw some more dummies, standing in front of some houses.

A few meters away stood an old, red car with its boot opened. Ana stroked Vincent's ears and she and Sawyer came over closer to the nearest house and just as they were about to make their way to the corner, somebody appeared and they quickly backed away and pressed their backs to the wall behind them.

The man, if you could call him that, was tall and rather fat. His face was utterly mutated, it wasn't anywhere near a human's face. He looked like a monster. His eyes were wild and cold. And he was dragging a dummy with him by its legs, which were tied up.

Ana and Sawyer slowly sank down the wall and crouched in a shadow, careful not to make any sounds but just then Vincent squealed quietly. Horrified, Ana quickly grabbed his mouth to shut him up, but it was too late, as the man had already heard that and quickly turned on his heels to find out what had made that sound.

Ana felt Sawyer tug at her arm and she glanced at him with widened eyes, but he just put a finger to his lips and mouthed 'follow me'. She had no idea what he was going to do, but anything was better than waiting for that guy to find them. So she knelt down and slowly followed Sawyer, making sure they stayed in the shadows.

Sawyer slowly crawled behind the car with an open boot and waited for Ana to catch up to him with Vincent. She finally did and they both froze, motionless, hearts in their throats.

There was a dead silence and it seems like it lasted ages, before the man came over to the place where they had been, just moments ago. He looked around, narrowing his dark eyes and then turned back to the dummy, grabbed the line and walked away, dragging it with him.

Ana let out a heavy breath and Sawyer closed his eyes, thanking God in his mind. They rested just for a few seconds, trying to calm down and then they picked themselves up.

"That was close," Sawyer commented, sighing in relief and clenching his fists to stop them from shivering. Then he felt Ana's hand squeeze his shoulder hard. "What?"

She didn't answer, just kept staring at something before her. He followed her gaze and realized what had made her so stunned. They were standing right in front of a window and in behind it, on a bed, there was Aaron. He was completely alone in that room, just lying on the bed, waving his little legs and arms and gaping at the ceiling.

"Son of a bitch," Sawyer breathed, before turning to Ana and grabbing her hand. "Come on, let's go take him and let's get outta here."

She nodded slowly and then glanced back at Vincent.

"We can't go in there with him. He could squeal or bark again. Too risky."

"You're right," he agreed, although he didn't like that idea at all. Having the dog around them made them feel much safer. "Let's lock him up in that car," Sawyer suggested, pointing at another old and destroyed car, which was just like the rest of them. Ana nodded again and came over to it, opened the door and told Vincent to jump inside.

"Stay here, good dog, good boy..." she murmured, stroking his ears lovingly. The dog squealed dismally, as if he knew his guardians might not come back for him. Ana was gaping at him for a few more seconds and then closed the door. "We'll be right back," she added and followed Sawyer to the door of the house. He was holding the baseball bat in front of him, ready to attack.

Sawyer opened the door slowly with one hand and looked inside. There was nobody in the corridor. He came in and glanced back at Ana to nod, letting her know it was clear. She followed him inside and closed the door as quietly as possible. They walked down the corridor slowly and carefully and, finally, at the end of it there was the room in which they had spotted the bed with Aaron lying on it. They smiled at the sight of him and, as they were passing by a room on their right, Ana noticed there was somebody inside and quickly grabbed Sawyer's arm and pulled him back.

Fortunately a television was switched on and it drowned all the gasps and sounds they had made.

_"- Did you push her?...- Yes_."

The Southerner hesitantly bent down to take a look at who was in that room.

"_- Did you destroy the furniture? ... - No_."

There was a bald, fat man. He was sitting in a rocking armchair, his back turned on the doorway and he was facing the television that stood in front of him. He had a head of a dummy on his knees and was brushing its hair lazily.

"_Did you call her trailer park trash?_"

Sawyer looked back at Ana and put a finger on his lips. They held their breaths, as they started to walk by the room so slowly that it seemed like they were going to stop moving at all.

"_-_ _So now you're saying you still-...- I'm still in love with her_."

The man looked sort of busy, rocking himself in the armchair and brushing the dummy's hair, from time to time glancing up at the television, apparently having no idea that two people were right behind him.

"_Okay, but-... So, you said you treasured the marriage...and you wanted to end it two weeks after you got into it?_"

Ana was ahead of Sawyer and her heart started to beat faster and faster, as they were nearing the room in which Aaron was.

"_I wanted to end it because I have- ... I had a feeling that things weren't gonna work together..._"

Finally they entered the room and Sawyer nodded to Ana.

"Go take him," he whispered, looking back to make sure nobody was behind them. Ana came over to the bed and as soon as Aaron noticed her face, he smiled sweetly. She smiled back at him, quickly looking him over for any wounds and then bent over and carefully picked him up.

"It's ok, we're here, baby..." she comforted him, stroking his head gently.

"_She wasn't working as a team player with me, and I tried coaching her-_"

Aaron let out a soft noise, something between a sigh and whimper and Ana hugged him tighter.

"Shh, shh, baby, it's ok.." she tried to assure him, as Sawyer sent her a desperate look.

"_-_ _Is she your child? - No, she's not my child, but she-_"

They exited the room ad began to make their way to the door.

"_She wanted me to eat dinner-spaghetti-_"

Ana and Sawyer walked by the doorways, just as slow as before, trying not to make any sounds, not even breathing. The man was still sitting in that rocking armchair, watching television with the head of dummy still in his lap.

"_-and I wanted to do it before it got cold._"

They were so close to the door, praying and asking God to help them get out of there safely. Ana tossed Aaron gently in her arms and smiled down at him, silently telling him it was going to be all right.

But then... she picked her head up and since Sawyer was too busy examining the rooms on their rights, he didn't notice a figure quickly approaching them from around the left corner.

Everything happened so fast, but Ana saw it in slow motion. She could feel her lips parting in shock to exclaim and she didn't even know when the words came out of her mouth;

"Sawyer, look OUT!"

But it was too late. Something hard and cold made contact with his head before he could fully turn his head. He fell on the floor with a thud, dropping the baseball bat.

The last thing he heard was Aaron's whimpers...

**

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the reviews once again and sorry it took me sorta longer to update this chapter. I'll try to update sooner next time. Hope you liked it!**


	8. It's breakfast time!

**Chapter 8: "It's breakfast time."**

Ana cracked her eyes open slowly and yawned sleepily, not wanting to get up just yet and--

"Mornin', sweetcheeks."

--and the warmth of Sawyer's body beneath her was not helping at all.

"Morning..." she whispered huskily and propped her head up against her elbow, looking down at him with her dark eyes half-closed.

"How'd you sleep? You feeling alright? You're hungry?" he asked, brushing her hair away from her face.

"You ask me that questions every single morning. What's the deal, cowboy?" Ana said, shaking her head and bending down to give him a soft kiss. "I'm _pregnant_, not sick."

He smirked and shrugged, looking incredibly happy. She frowned down at him suspiciously, silently asking him what that was about.

"I had a beautiful dream," the Southerner confessed with a wide smile on his handsome face.

"About?" Ana asked curiously. He let out a deep sigh and then gently rolled her off of him and laid her on her back, so that now he was the one looking down at her.

"About us..." Sawyer growled, bending over her. "and our baby."

"Really now?" she drawled, smiling lightly. "Was it a boy or a girl?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he teased, tickling her tummy with his free hand, making her chuckle.

"Come on, spill it!" she told him, pushing his hand away and slapping his shoulder.

"Ouch," he said half-heartedly and sighed. "Oh all right... It was a girl."

Ana's smile faded a little and something weird happened to her eyes. They were suddenly one hundred times softer and there was this surprised and happy look on her face. But it wasn't the look Sawyer's been seeing for almost four years already. It was... somehow different.

"A girl?" Ana repeated it as a question, but it sounded more like something she didn't even know she'd spoken aloud. "Does that mean you want to have a daughter?"

"I dunno." Sawyer shrugged, ruffling her curls. "Maybe... maybe not. I'm happy just about the fact that we're having one. Doesn't matter if it's gonna be a girl or a boy as long as it's healthy with your look and my personality."

"Ugh you wish!" Ana breathed, hitting his shoulder again playfully. "I barely put up with you here, what am I gonna do with another, younger and smaller version of you?"

"Love it." he said, smirking again "Just like you love the original, full version right above you."

To Sawyer's surprise she didn't deny it or hit him again and didn't say anything sarcastic. A gentle smile and the weird look he hasn't seen before appeared on her face again and he loved the way she was looking up at him then.

"What did she look like?" Ana asked all of a sudden.

"She was small, thin... with dark, long and curly hair, brown, deep eyes, beautiful smile on her face, tan skin..."

"And let me guess... she had dimples, didn't she?"

"And she looked gorgeous with them, I'll give you that," Sawyer confirmed, grinning and looking as though he was trying to remember the little girl from his dream.

"Did she say anything?" the Latina asked "Did you talk to her?"

"She was singing something. She wore a cute, white dress and she was running around on the grass and she was... singing."

"Singing?" she whispered and he nodded.

"And later she ran over to me and --" Sawyer stopped and frowned, apparently trying to remember something.

"What?" Ana encouraged him, shaking his arm. "What'd she do?"

"She tugged on my hand and said, 'don't worry, daddy, they'll take care of me'."

Nothing that Sawyer said had surprised Ana like this. She furrowed her eyebrows, not feeling at all ok with what she'd just heard. What could this mean? Who were _they_?

"Hey it was just a dream," the blonde man tried to assure her, seeing the worried look she gave him "And don't forget the fact she was happy and healthy in it."

Ana hesitated with answering for a few moments, but finally nodded slowly and broke into a small smile.

"Yeah..." she murmured "You're right. It was just a dream." Then her smile widened. "A beautiful dream after all, right?"

"You bet," Sawyer breathed and bent down to kiss her cheek. She crinkled her nose at him and pushed him on his back, then turned on her side again and laid her head on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her waist and kissed her head. "I can't wait for our baby to be born."

Ana chuckled in his t-shirt and shook her head against his chest.

"You're gonna have to wait a few months for that, though," she whispered and closed her eyes, smiling to herself happily. Sawyer agreed with a low growl and then rubbed her tummy and said to it,

"Don't make us wait too long, lil babbler, huh?"

Ana opened her eyes again and it was dark. It was dark and it was cold. Very cold. She could feel body warmth from somebody she was curled up to. She had no idea where she was. Moreover, her head was killing her. She wanted to move her arm, but there was no room for her to do that. She was squeezed between somebody's body and a wall. What was going on-- ?

And then everything came back to her - the incident, the dead dog, Jack, the people, Claire....and Sawyer being attacked by one of the creatures in the house.

_Oh God... _Aaron! Where the hell was Aaron?!

Ana tried her best to move, at least a little and finally she managed to get her hand from underneath her own body and then placed it on the man's chest. She moved it up until her fingers made their way to the neck.

"Sawyer?" she gasped, running the palm of her hand over the stubble on the man's face. "Sawyer!"

He choked suddenly, making her flinch. Ana's face was so close to his, that she could feel his hot breath on her cheek, as he let out a heavy breath.

"Ana?" he asked, hoping that she was the woman who was lying on top of him.

"Yeah, it's me," she answered huskily. "You okay?"

"I think so," Sawyer rasped, grimacing and trying to notice something in the darkness of the place they were apparently locked in. "Where the fuck are we?"

"Got no idea," Ana breathed and then grimaced. "You smell that?"

"Yeah... what the hell is this?"

"I don't think I wanna know," she announced, breathing heavily. "Wait, I'll try to get off of you..." she mumbled and moved to sit up, placing her hands on either side of his body. "Fuck, I'm slipping!" she gasped, "The floor's all wet!"

"Wait, I got a lighter," Sawyer spoke and reached to his pocket "Give me a little room here."

Ana shifted slightly, so that he could take it out. Few more seconds passed by and then there was a 'click'. Thanks to the small source of light, Ana could finally see Sawyer's face. He was very pale and had a deep cut and a big bruise on his forehead.

"Shit, that fucker hit you pretty bad," she whispered and reached out to finger his bruise. Sawyer's eyes widened suddenly and he grabbed her hand, his other one still holding the lighter.

"Ana..." he breathed and she sent him a questioning gaze, and then looked at her hand. It was covered in blood. Not... **her** blood.

"Oh fuck!" Sawyer yelled and started to struggle, trying to pull back, but slipping on the floor, that wasn't _just_ wet, as they'd thought before. It was wet from blood.

At first Ana had no idea what had freaked him out so much, but then the lighter in his hand educated their legs and--

"Oh my God!"

In their legs and all over the floor, there were cut off, bloody feet, hands, legs, arms... and heads.

Ana quickly sat up, and then yelled in pain, as her head met a roof. She glanced up and learned it wasn't a roof, but a door, made from a see-through plastic.

"What the **fuck**!" Sawyer shouted, dropping the lighter and it was dark again.

"Kick the door open!" Ana screamed, lying back down and lifting her legs, then kicking the door above them forcefully. He joined her, gasping. "Come on, harder!"

"I'm trying!" Sawyer yelled. Whatever they were locked in, it was very small and practically half of Ana's body was still on his, making it very hard for him and for her, too, to move at all, let alone lift legs and kick a locked door. But lack of room didn't make them stop. It only made them try even harder, as they were both tried desperately to get out of there, kicking the door in desperation, struggling and gasping.

Finally after several long moments, the lock broke and with one last powerful kick, Sawyer opened the door. Ana immediately pulled herself off of him and practically jumped out. Her knees hit the hard floor painfully and she bent over and vomited on it, shuddering. Sawyer got out right after her, breathing heavily. He turned to look at the something they were locked in.

"It's a fridge," he gasped in disbelief. "It's a _fucking_ fridge!"

Ana choked breathlessly, her hands placed on the floor barely keeping her weight up. Her jeans were wet from blood, as well as her arms and face. Sawyer looked down at himself and noticed that his clothes were also covered with blood. He gazed up, swallowed hard and knelt down besides still shaking Ana. He laid his one hand on the small of her back and with the other one brushed her hair out of her face.

"Hold on, Chica," he tried to comfort her, as best as he could. "You hold on."

She choked some more, but nodded nonetheless, as her hand grasped the front of his t-shirt in fist.

"You ain't hurt, are you?"

"No," she gasped breathlessly, shaking her head "Are you?"

"No," Sawyer replied and then helped her up "We gotta keep movin' unless we want Charlie and Kate to leave without us."

* * *

"Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, little Aaron! Happy birthday to you!"

Everybody finished singing and clasped their hands, including Claire who was holding the baby in her arms. It was his first birthday and everybody gathered to celebrate it.

"Now it's time for presents!" Kate announced, approaching Claire's first with her gift. The blonde woman sat down on a couch and took it from her with a thankful smile.

"Look what Aunt Katie got you!" Claire murmured to Aaron, unwrapping the present. "Yay, it's a car!" she sang, rocking the baby. "It's your first car, sweetie! Thank you." she added, looking up at Kate. The brunette just nodded with a smile and bent down to kiss the top of the boy's head. Then Jack approached with his present. He gave his sister a complete set of brand new clothes for her baby.

"Aw thanks, Jack," Claire cooed, hugging her brother.

"It's our turn, c'mon, babe," Sawyer said, taking Ana's hand and leading her to the couch, "Hey, babbler. Guess what Uncle Sawyer got you-- OW!"

Claire smirked at Ana, a second after her fist left Sawyer's stomach. He turned to look at her with widened eyes and mouthed, 'what?'. Ana raised an eyebrow at him and he was staring at her for a few seconds like a dumbass and then slowly nodded, as though he just realized what all that was about.

"Guess what Uncle Sawyer _and __**Aunt Ana **_got you," he added louder, sending his girl a look and then turning back to Claire. "There you go, mama," he drawled, smiling down at her and giving her a huge package. Claire thanked them and began to unpack it. Ana turned her head with a big smile on her face, but it soon faded as she noticed Charlie sitting alone in the kitchen. She narrowed her eyes and walked away. It wasn't unnoticed by Sawyer, though. She could feel his confused gaze on her back, as she entered the kitchen and sat down next to Charlie.

There was a pretty awkward silence between them and after at least five minutes, Ana had enough.

"Ok, what's up? Spill it." She didn't ask him - she _told _him. And he still didn't even look at her "Charlie, man!" she spat, slapping his shoulder.

"Ow," he whispered, not really meaning it, though. "What did I do?"

"Well I dunno, you tell me!" Ana demanded. "It's your first kid's _first _birthday and instead of celebrating, you're sitting alone in the kitchen. Mind telling me what your problem is, Munchkin?"

"I never said I had one."

She smacked him again, harder this time.

"**Ow**! Now_ that _really hurt!" he yelped, rubbing his sore spot.

"Stop whining!" she spat, glaring at him "This is your son's first birthday. Your wife is in the living room, unpacking the presents. So you better go help her with it, coz I'm damn sure you don't want **me** to help you do that."

"Jesus, can't a man be alone for a few minutes?" Charlie murmured, burying his face in his hands.

"If you weren't ready for a baby, then you should have thought to use some protection, baby boy."

"You know what Ana?" he breathed, putting his hands away from his face and looking at her "Shut the fuck up."

"Now that's what I wanted to hear," she growled, patting his back. "What's up?"

"I don't know..." he sighed, shrugging. "I just got to get used to it, y'know... It's been a year that Aaron's with us and almost two years that Claire and I are married... it's just... My son... my little baby boy has just turned one today and I just can't help, but wondering if the first year of his life didn't pass too fast... It's like I haven't been paying much attention, y'know? I'm just scared I'll wake up tomorrow and he'll announce he's getting married or something..."

Ana let out a heavy breath and nodded, her hand went to her tummy automatically.

"I know what you mean..." she whispered. She wasn't sure why she hadn't told Charlie about the baby, but she knew that was the way it was going to stay for a while. "When the hell did we grow up, Chuckie, huh?"

"I don't know..." he mumbled, shaking his head and then burying it in his hands. Ana gave him another five minutes to be miserable in silence and then got up.

"Well then what are you waiting for?" she asked him, grabbing his arm and making him get up too "Enjoy the fact that your son's just one year old, while you can. Go out there and enjoy it. Before you get too old."

He smirked at her and turned his head at the small crowd gathered by the couch. His eyes found Aaron's small figure and his smile faded.

"Charlie..." he heard Ana say, but he was too lost in the sight of his son, smiling sweetly in his mother's arms...

"Charlie?" Ana repeated_ "Charlie, are you listening to me?"_

"Charlie?"

Kate's voice interrupted his thoughts, as she approached him uncertainly and hesitantly. He was sitting on the soft, hot sand in front of the trailer, waiting for Ana and Sawyer to come back with his son. He knew they would be back. He was sure they would.... He could feel it... He _hoped _so.

"Charlie, come on, we have to do it." Kate gasped out, her voice shaking. The blonde man didn't even look at her. He had no strength to even answer her. But he knew what had to be done. So he got up and followed the brunette into the trailer. He approached the sofa slowly and looked down at the grey blanket that was covering the body of his wife... Swallowing down a lump in his throat, Charlie uncovered Claire and his eyes watered seconds after he saw her face. How could this all happen? They were so happy... What did Claire do to deserve that? What the hell did she do?

"I'll grab her by the arms and you'll grab her legs," the Brit instructed and Kate agreed silently by nodding and moving to get the blanket completely off of her friend's body. Charlie grabbed her arms, so that her limp head was resting on his chest and Kate grabbed her legs. Together, gasping and panting, they got out of the trailer, carrying Claire to the car. Kate managed to open the door and they struggled to put her inside on the backseats.

"Watch her head," Kate gasped out, tears marking her cheeks yet again, as they lay her down, making sure the door wouldn't do any damage to her legs. They shut the door, but neither of them was ready to go away just yet... Charlie stared at the body of the love of his life, the mother of his baby through the car window and he felt like nothing made sense to him anymore. If Claire was dead... so was he. And it wasn't for the fact he still had Kate, Sawyer, Ana and Aaron.... he would've been reunited with his wife already.

"Come on," Kate whispered through her tears, tugging on his arm, although she didn't want to walk away herself. With one last look at Claire, full of sorrow and pain, Charlie let Kate take him away from the car.

* * *

Sawyer and Ana had just a baseball bat, those people for some reason had left in the room, and a knife Ana had tucked behind her belt for protection. They didn't have their backpack anymore in which they had knives, lighters and everything they could need. They had just a fucking baseball bat.

The room in which the fridge was hadn't been locked up, so they had no problem with getting out of it. They didn't know where to go. They were just going along a corridor, hoping nobody would hear them or worse, see them. One thing was for sure - they weren't in the house that they'd found Aaron in before.

"Follow me and try not to make any noise," Sawyer whispered to Ana and she stopped herself from rolling her eyes at this. As if she didn't know that. But she swallowed down a sarcastic answer, knowing there was no time for that. She followed him slowly and quietly, watching her every step.

As they were approaching the end of the corridor, they could hear a hard breathing of somebody. And then the same voice sang:

"_Oh say can you see by the dawn's early light..._"

Already feeling their hearts beating faster, Sawyer and Ana entered a living room, ready to fight back, but it turned out they didn't have to, because the singing was coming from somebody who was in a wheel chair. They were behind it, so they couldn't exactly see who the person was sitting in it.

"_What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming? Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight..._"

Sawyer glanced at Ana over his shoulder, holding the baseball in front of him. She looked at him and nodded, telling him to keep going.

"_O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming!_ _And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air...!_"

They passed round the wheel chair and stopped in front of it. Sawyer's face curved in an obvious disgust and Ana's eyes widened in shock.

"_Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there!_"

It was a man. He was almost naked, but some fabric was covering his hips and thighs. He was mutated, just like the rest of them. He had filthy, yellow teeth, was very thin and looked like he was about to fall off the wheel chair. His heavy and husky panting told them he could be very sick. But all that wasn't even that bad because he had a enormous head, covered with wet, dark strands of hair, that were plastered to his skin. He had his neck rested on the top edge of the chair and his head was ... hanging loosely, as though it was about to fall off.

Sawyer and Ana stood there, frozen, not as surprised as they thought they would be, but still it wasn't the nicest image.

"Where's Aaron?" Sawyer asked after a few seconds of silence. "Where is he?!" he questioned louder, but the man was quiet. "Answer me!"

"I don't know where he is..." the guy gasped out."I never leave this place...."

Sawyer glanced at Ana and she nodded, understanding what he wanted her to do. She walked away, looking around and making sure, that Aaron wasn't in the house and that none of those people were in it either.

"Your people," the man rasped huskily, "asked our families... to leave their town..." he continued, staring up at Sawyer with wild eyes, "and you _destroyed _our homes!"

Ana stopped looking around and slowly approached the man again, narrowing her eyes and listening to his every word.

"We went into the mines.... And **you **set off your bombs..." he panted, choking a little, "and turned everything to ashes!"

Ana sent Sawyer a terrified look, but he was too shocked himself to even notice she was looking at him.

"**You **made us what we've become," the man stated. So that was the reason why they were murdering families? That was the reason why Jack and Claire had to die? That was the reason they were hurting innocent people?

"Boom," the man said "Boom. Boom!"

Sawyer gritted his teeth in anger and, not feeling any sympathy for the man, he raised the baseball bat higher above his head, ready to crash it down on his face.

"Where's Aaron?" the Southerner repeated the question and the guy started to laugh cruelly, showing off his filthy teeth, making Ana grimace in disgust "What's so funny?!" Sawyer yelled, feeling he was losing his patience.

"It's breakfast time!"

And before Sawyer or Ana could react, a big window behind them broke into a million pieces as a big figure of a guy they had seen before already ran into the room through the glass with an axe in his hands. It was the buddy of the guy who'd killed Claire. He ran straight at them and hit Ana so fast and so hard that she fell on the floor, not even seeing it coming at all. Sawyer was the next one on his list, but the Southerner managed to fight back. As the man got ready to hit him, too, he jumped away, making him run into a wall. Sawyer glanced at the barely stirring figure of Ana on the floor, but he didn't even have a time to do anything, or at least call her, because the man attacked him already, using the second in which he was staring at Ana. The Southerner was shoved away and his back hit the wall behind him painfully, making him gasp. Despite the pain and through his tears, Sawyer saw him make a move with the axe and he quickly knelt down. The axe thrusted into the spot where his head had been just a moment ago. The blonde man used the occasion and crawled away towards Ana. He grabbed her arm and shook her, trying to wake her. But she wouldn't wake up. Next thing he knew he was being lifted up being flung across the room. He landed on the hard floor, almost losing consciousness, practically not knowing what was going on anymore. He then felt the man kick him hard, as he turned him over on his back. He was too occupied with his intend of killing Sawyer to notice that behind him Ana was getting up. And before he could even raise the axe, she ran over to him and thrusted the knife she'd had tucked behind her belt into his stomach.

The man didn't drop the axe and didn't even scream. He just looked at her with a surprised expression on his face, shaking a little. Sawyer and Ana both stared at him with widened eyes. He grabbed the knife and pulled it out of his stomach with a gasp. Sawyer turned his gaze at Ana and felt his blood boil with fear and anger.

"Ana," Sawyer gasped "_Run_!"

He didn't need to tell her that twice. She turned on her heels and before the man could grab her, she was already out of the living room, slipping on her bloody shoes. The guy let out some frustrated sound and began to follow her. In the meantime Sawyer was fighting to get himself off the floor.

"Hey you!" he shouted to him, placing his hands on the nearest wall and slowly picking himself up and trying to get his attention. "Hey, come here!" he yelled again, seeing he was still coming after Ana "I swear to God if you hurt her--!"

But the man wasn't listening and wasn't interested in his yells at all.

Ana turned the corner, trying not to look back and running as fast as she could. The pain in her head was getting stronger and stronger, but she tried her best to ignore it. She found the stairs and wanted to run up them, but she slipped and fell and before she could get up, she felt somebody's hand on her ankle and it was trying to drag her down. She looked over her shoulder and sure enough it was him. The man who attacked them. She tried to kick him, but his grip on her leg was too strong.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Ana yelled, reaching for a handrail "Let me go!"

But she was too weak. He managed to drag her all the way down from the stairs. She fell down with a thud, gasping in pain as she hit the floor hard. He got up, raised the axe and threw it down. It hit the floor, making him frown in surprise. Before he understood where his victim had gone, Ana attacked him from behind. She pushed him on the stairs and ran away back to the living room.

"Sawyer!" she yelled out, but he wasn't there "Sawyer! Sawyer, where are you?!" she called for him, but there was no reply. She ran back into the corridor, "Sawye--"

The man appeared out of nowhere, just like the first time. He grabbed her by her throat and pulled her up, pressing her into the wall with his body. Ana grabbed his hands, trying to release them, choking and struggling. He stared up at her and a vile smile curved his ugly, mutated face, as he was laughing straight into her face, enjoying seeing her so on his mercy.

There was a thud suddenly and his cruel, evil smile turned into a grimace. His grip on Ana's throat loosened up and she kicked him back and away from her.

"Come on, let's go!" Sawyer shouted, grabbing her arm and tagging her along with him, trying to find the front door of the house. They didn't get away too far, though. The man was right after them and shit, he was very fast. And also unnaturally strong. He blocked their way to the front door, acting as though they were playing some sort of game and laughing like a mad man.

"Come on, don't stop." Sawyer breathed out, squeezing her arm harder and pushing her in front of him, as they yet again ran into the living room. The man followed them with the axe still in his hands, still laughing. It was just a question of a few seconds and he attacked again, grabbing Ana and shoving her on the wall. She hit it hard, slipped down it on the floor and stopped moving.

Sawyer barely managed to turn his head and he was hit in his face. Fast and hard. Twice. Three times. And once more. After the fifth or sixth punch, the man obviously decided to stop playing a boxer and at one stroke he thrusted the axe into his side. Sawyer's eyes widened and his mouth opened in pain. He knelt down on the ground, swallowing the blood. The man brought him low with yet another punch. Sawyer was lying on his back, pressing his hand to his bleeding side, gasping and panting in pain. Behind them Ana was slowly picking herself up. She had a deep cut in her head and the whole left side of her face was covered in blood, plus all her muscles were hurting her dreadfully. She could barely see as the figure of the guy was a blur. But she managed to notice him raising his axe, getting ready to finish his job. And she was so helpless... She had no strength anymore... Flashbacks appeared in her head, as though it was the last minute of her life. She saw all of them, their whole_... family_ ...happy together... Charlie, Claire... Jack, Kate ... _Sawyer_...

The man was about to drop the axe and Ana had a second to decide whether she was done fighting or not...

"NO!" she screamed out, running over to them and then falling on her knees beside Sawyer, holding one of her hands out in the guy's direction, as if asking him to hold on. "Please, don't kill him..." she cried out in a helpless tone, knowing she was begging, but she would beg all she could if it was supposed to save Sawyer's life. The man smirked and glanced at the guy in the wheel chair, who was also laughing and mimicking her words.

"_'Please don't kill him'._" he repeated in a raspy voice.

"Please, don't kill him..." Ana repeated once again, feeling Sawyer's hand slipping something into her own. It was a screwdriver, the same one she'd used to save Kate's life back in the trailer. The same one she'd thrusted into the leg of the man who'd killed Claire.

"_'Please, don't kill him!'_"

Using the occasion that nobody was paying any attention to her, Ana's pleading look turned into a grimace, filled with anger and she threw the screwdriver down and into the man's shoe and it pierced through it and drove into the wooden floor. The man yelled out in pain and reached to his foot, dropping the axe as a result. Ana was quick to grab it. She stood up and as he bent over to pull the screwdriver out of his foot, she raised the axe and threw it down on his head with a yell. He stopped shouting, his mouth opened and his eyes widened. Ana stared down at him with the most hateful gaze she was able to show him and then pulled the axe out of his head. He fell down on the floor... dead.

Ana didn't wait a second longer. She quickly ran to Sawyer and helped him sit up, despite his groans. She knew they had to get out of that house. Fast.

"Come on." she told him and then saw he was about to pass out "No, Sawyer, stay with me!" she spat, not even being aware of tears that were marking her cheeks "Sawyer, don't you die on me, you son of a bitch!" she cried out helplessly, fighting to pick him up, wrapping one of his arms around her shoulders and pressing her other hand to his bleeding side "I'll kill you if you die!" she yelled out, knowing she wasn't making any sense "Stay with me! _You hear me?!"_

But Sawyer's thoughts seemed to have drifted away the moment the axe had been thrusted into his side. He couldn't even feel any pain anymore... Everything around was a blur... He could hear somebody screaming, but...

_Sawyer, stay awake!_

...but who was that dark-haired woman above him...?

_Don't you leave me!_

... He knew her face....

_Sawyer, you fight!_

Her eyes were so familiar... but he couldn't...

_You promised me, remember?!_

.. He couldn't quite tell where he knew her from...

_You promised me you wouldn't let anything happen to me, you __**can't **__break that promise!_

A promise...? What in the world could he promise this crying woman?

_Get up!_

No, she couldn't make him... he was too weak... he just wanted to sleep and--

_I said __**get up**__!_

No. No, no, no. Was it really so hard to understand?!

_Sawyer, don't give up, you have to keep fighting! For me! __**Please!**_

He shook his head and looked at the woman again. And he recognized that face this time... _Ana Lucia..._

"Sawyer!" Ana half cried out, half snapped "You can't just die on me now, Aaron needs us!"

Aaron? ... _Oh God, __**Aaron...**_

"Ana," he groaned, tightening his grip on her shoulders.

"Yes, it's me!" she gasped out "I'm here with you, I'm here and I won't leave you, I promise, just please get up!" she begged him "Please, help me, I can't do it alone, I can't go on without you, **please**..."

Sawyer let out a raspy, heavy breath and reached out to touch her face, to make sure she was real... to make sure it wasn't just a nightmare...

"You told me to hold on, now I'm telling you to do the same, you **hold on**, Sawyer! Stay strong for me and for Aaron, we both need you now." Ana whispered, stroking his hair and again trying to get him off of the floor.

And this time, he let her. He helped her. After about ten seconds, they were both standing with Sawyer barely keeping his balance, his arm wrapped safely around Ana's shoulders, as her own arm was gently around his waist, the palm of her hand was pressing on his wound.

"Come on, we gotta get outta here..." she encouraged him and slowly led him outside of the living room, leaving the shaking man in a wheel chair behind.

After a minute, they were already out of of the house and Sawyer started to get heavier and heavier for Ana.

"Wait," he gasped, all of a sudden "Let-- let me go."

Ana glanced up at him, breathing heavily and then carefully helped him sit down on the hot sand. He leaned against the wall of the house they'd just left a few seconds before. Ana crouched down in front of him and prepared to take a look at his wound.

"So?" the Southerner breathed "What's the verdict, doc?"

Ana was staring down at his side, the material of his t-shirt was soaked with blood already and it was getting worse. After a few seconds she cracked a small smile and looked up at him.

"You're gonna be ok." she tried to assure him, taking off her jacket.

"Don't bother chica." Sawyer growled, barely above a whisper. "I know when you're lying."

"I'm **not**." Ana denied "You're gonna be all right." she stated in a tone that gave him no room to argue. She cut off one of the sleeves of her jacket, using the axe and wrapped it tightly around his waist "It'll stop the bleeding. At least a little."

"You should go." Sawyer rasped, making her look up.

"What?"

"You should keep moving. You gotta find Aaron before--" he paused and let out a heavy breath. "Go. You're strong, you can do it. You're gonna find him and--  
"No."

"--And then you and Charlie and Kate--"

"I said** no**."

"It's for the best." Sawyer hissed in pain, grimacing.

"If you think..." Ana whispered, taking his bruised face in her hands gently "that after everything we've been through, I'm just going to leave you like that here, then you must've gotten really dumb during the last few months we've been apart. My man was hell of a smart guy. He was a sarcastic, crazy, annoying son of a bitch, but he was _smart_."

"This isn't the best time for joking, Ana" the Southerner spoke, barely keeping his eyes open.

"I'm not joking. I am **not **leaving you." she announced, stroking his cheeks and weeping the blood away from them "We're gonna get out of here. _Together_."

Sawyer squeezed his eyes shut, as his hand found hers. He grabbed it, trying to hold on, trying to stay conscious, because he gave Charlie a promise that he was going to take care of her. He promised to _himself _that he was going to protect her.

"Before we go..." he started. "I just want you to know I'm the biggest asshole in the whole world and I'm surprised you're risking your life to save my stupid ass."

"That's what you do when you love somebody," Ana replied, forcing out a barely noticeable smile "Because I still love you, no matter how much you fucked up. Besides, we _both_ fucked up."

"Yeah, but I fucked up more."

"True," she admitted, her almost-smile growing into a full one, tears coming up to her eyes "But we wouldn't be Sawyer and Ana if we didn't mess anything up."

"Yeah, that's what makes us so special, huh?" he said sarcastically, almost forgetting about the pain, almost forgetting about the death of his two best friends, almost forgetting what'd happened to them and what they were about to do.

"Yeah," she laughed weakly through her tears in reply and then kissed his bruised lips softly and pulled back to look at him again. "I love you."

"If I knew having an axe thrusted into my side was all it took for me to hear you say that again, I would've come here a long time ago." Sawyer somehow found the energy to joke, sending her something what could be considered as a half-smirk. Ana smiled weakly, swallowed down her tears and kissed the top of his head.

"Shut up."

He gazed at her, silently trying to tell her they were not going to end up like that and that everything was going to be ok. And she could read his gaze and as she wanted to say she _knew _what he meant to tell her, she noticed that he wasn't looking at her anymore, but at something above her shoulder.

"What?" Ana whispered and when there was no answer from him, she glanced over her shoulder. Someone was coming, a few meters away from them. They'd seen him before. It was the creature they'd hidden from behind that car right before they noticed Aaron in that room. Ana turned back to Sawyer and grabbed an axe.

"Stay here." she told him and he tried to reach her arm to stop her, but she was already walking away.

"Ana!" he hissed after her, as quietly as he could "What are you doing?! Come back here!"

But she wasn't listening. Bending a little, so that they guy wouldn't see her, she made her way to a car that stood next to the house and crouched down beside it. She could hear the man coming closer and closer, still not aware of their presence. Her cop instinct kicked in and when the guy approached the car and was about to pass her, she rose the axe and then hit his leg with it. He staggered and bent down a little and at the same time Ana got up and threw the axe down and into his back. He fell on his face on the hood of the car they stood next to and began to struggle, having no idea what had attacked him. Ana wasn't about to shorten his suffering.. Wanting him to hurt just like she was hurting, she drove the axe deeper into his back and started to move it from one side to another, making him rasp in pain. Finally, after several long and heavy seconds, she pulled the axe out of his back and he fell down on the ground, whining as his back hit it hard. His face was curved with a grimace, but it disappeared as he looked up at Ana who was standing above him with a merciless look on her face. She had no sympathy for this monsters and she was ready to kill every single one of them to avenge Jack and Claire and everybody who'd lost their lives here before them.

The man was staring up at her with widened eyes and Ana forced out a cold smile and then threw the axe down and threw it right into his forehead. His grunting stopped at once and now Ana was glaring down at a dead guy. Breathing heavily, she pulled the axe out of his body again and then gladly noticed he had a rifle with him. She grabbed it and quickly ran back to Sawyer's side. She didn't like that shocked look he was giving her, as if he was blaming her for killing somebody.

"What, you expected me to push him and stick my tongue out at him?" Ana snapped, giving him the rifle and then once again wrapping his arm around her shoulders and picking him up, hearing his groans of pain in response "He fucking deserved it and I woulda caused him even more pain if I'd had more time, _because __**he fucking deserved it**_, so don't you look at me like that."

Sawyer looked down at her and his eyes told her everything... He didn't blame her for doing it... He was blaming _himself... _Because he felt that **he** should have been the one to kill them and he just didn't want her to have those monsters' blood on her hands...

"Don't worry about it." Ana spoke, reading his mind. "It felt great to do that." she assured him, glancing down at his side and licking her dry lips while trying to swallow down her tears.

"Coulda fooled me..." Sawyer murmured in response. She didn't reply. Just tightened her grip on him a little and they walked away, because they had an innocent baby to find... and they had to do it as quickly as they could, before -- before it'd be too late...

They didn't know one thing, though. As they were walking away from the house to go search the other ones, the man in the wheel chair was observing him through the window. He was holding something in his hand and then he put it close to his mouth and--

"Lizard..." he rasped into the walkie."_Kill the baby_."

He put the walkie away and a smirk appeared on his filthy face. His joy didn't last long, though. Something moved on his right and an aggressive snarling rang out. He couldn't quite turn his head, but he didn't have to do that to know there was a dog, a few meters away from him. His smirk faded and he yelled in agony as the Labrador attacked him... and he had nowhere to run... _and he couldn't move..._


End file.
